Three New Zealanders have been deported by Israel after the vessels they were travelling to Gaza on, in the Global Sumud Flotilla, were intercepted on Tuesday night (NZT).
Mousa Taher, Hāhona Ormsby, and Julien Blondel were released and arrived in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Friday morning, the flotilla’s Aotearoa delegation said.
Both Taher and Blondel had previously been intercepted in early May, alongside two others, with Blondel appearing in photos then with injuries, following his release.
Taher’s wife, Desiree Pine, said when he was intercepted this time, Israeli forces had “zip-tied both his hands and feet”, then “ziptied him to the boat so he could not move”.
“When Mousa expressed why he was on the mission he was told to ‘shut the f... up’ multiple times, or they would 'break his body',” she said he had told her.
