ISTANBUL - A total of 223 international activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid convoy were detained by Israeli forces, organisers said on Thursday.
The Global Sumud Flotilla posted on the US social media platform X that 15 boats had been attacked by Israeli forces since late Wednesday, while another eight were believed to be or were currently under attack, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
The flotilla shared on the US social media platform Instagram the names and nationalities of 223 activists aboard the attacked vessels.
Meanwhile, the official flotilla tracker showed that 20 vessels had been attacked by Israeli forces, while 24 others continued their course to Gaza.
According to Erdem Ozveren, a Turkish activist from the global mission, their vessel was less than 30 nautical miles from Gaza.
The flotilla, carrying mainly humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail at the end of August. It was the first time in years that more than 50 ships had sailed together towards Gaza, carrying over 500 civilian supporters from more than 45 countries.
Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to a population of nearly 2.4 million, for almost 18 years, and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardment has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
The UN and rights groups have repeatedly warned that the enclave is being rendered uninhabitable, with starvation and disease spreading rapidly. - BERNAMA-ANADOLU