Another 137 activists from the flotilla that attempted to break the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip have been deported to Turkey, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday, accusing them of “provocation in the service of Hamas” and obstructing the deportation process.
The deportation came after CBS News reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had approved drone strikes on two of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s vessels in Tunisian waters earlier this month.
The 137 activists, whom the Foreign Ministry called “provocateurs,” were sent to Istanbul on a special Turkish Airlines flight Saturday afternoon from Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel.
They included nationals of the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Malaysia, Bahrain, Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia and Turkey.
Sources in Turkey’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters that 36 of the activists are Turkish nationals. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X that 26 Italians were on board while 15 others did not sign the voluntary release form and would wait for their judicial expulsion due next week, according to the minister.
The Foreign Ministry said the flotilla activists that had “arrived under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid,’ made it clear — through their actions, their rejection of all proposals by Israel, Italy, and Greece to peacefully transfer the aid, and the small quantity of aid they actually carried on their boats — that their true goal was provocation in the service of Hamas, not humanitarian assistance.”
“Israel seeks to expedite the deportation of all provocateurs. However, some of them are deliberately obstructing the legal deportation process, preferring instead to linger in Israel,” said the ministry. “At the same time, several foreign governments have shown reluctance to accept flights that would return these provocateurs.”
“Nevertheless, all participants in this publicity stunt will be deported as swiftly as possible,” the ministry added.
On Friday, four Italian nationals detained while trying to reach Gaza were deported. In all, more than 470 activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were detained in the 42 Sumud vessels that were intercepted by the Israeli Navy this week.
Citing two US intelligence officials, CBS News reported Friday that Netanyahu directly approved drone strikes on two Sumud vessels that were moored outside the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou.
According to the report, the drones were launched from an Israeli Navy submarine and dropped incendiary devices onto the boats, causing fires that crew members were able to put out without injury.
The first drone attacked the Portuguese-flagged vessel Family, and the second drone attacked the British-flagged vessel Alma, CBS said.
Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua was aboard the Family the night before the boat was intercepted, and organizers of the flotilla believe their attackers waited until “elected officials or high-profile figures were absent,” according to a statement cited by CBS.
At the time of the alleged attacks, the Sumud flotilla accused Israel of attacking it with drones, but Tunisia said no drones had entered its airspace before later denouncing the “premeditated aggression.”
“Confirmation of Israeli involvement would not surprise us; it would simply lay bare a pattern of arrogance and impunity so grotesque that it cannot escape eventual reckoning,” the Sumud flotilla said Friday.
The IDF did not respond to a request for comment, CBS said.
The Sumud flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge Israel’s years-long naval blockade on Gaza.
Similar attempts were intercepted in June and July, amid spiking international anger at Israel over the humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Israeli officials have denounced the Sumud and other missions as pro-Hamas stunts.
In an August report that Israel has rejected, the UN declared a famine in parts of northern Gaza. Israel, which blocked the entry of aid into Gaza for nearly three months until May, has accused Hamas of systematically looting aid entering the Strip since the war there was sparked when the terror group invaded Israel on October 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, a new nine-boat flotilla organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is also expected to approach Gaza soon and be intercepted by the Israeli Navy. The mission, said to include about 100 activists on one of the boats, set sail from Italy about a week ago and was approaching the coast of Egypt’s Alexandria, its live-tracker showed Saturday.