Members of Global Sumud Flotilla, who were detained by Israel in international waters, arrive at Istanbul Airport with three Turkish Airlines THY planes in Istanbul, Turkiye, on Thursday. HAKAN AKGUN/GETTY IMAGES
JERUSALEM — Israel said on Thursday it had deported all the foreign activists seized by its forces from a Gaza-bound flotilla, as the first group arrived in Turkiye following global outcry over their treatment in custody.
Hundreds of activists from countries around the world were placed in detention in Israel after they were intercepted at sea on Monday while making the latest in a string of attempts to break the blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
Turkish foreign ministry sources said 422 activists, including 85 Turkish nationals, were flown from southern Israel on three planes chartered by Ankara. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirmed the deportation flights and said several other activists had been sent directly to their home countries.
Adalah, the legal center representing the flotilla members, said earlier on Thursday that the majority were "en route for deportation" from Ramon Airport in Israel's far south. It said they had been held at Israel's Ktziot Prison, in the Negev Desert near Gaza.
