Australians detained after Israel intercepted Gaza-bound flotilla

Israeli forces have detained 11 Australians after their navy intercepted ships seeking to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, flotilla organisers say.

There were more than 50 ships in the flotilla and dozens were intercepted off the coast of Cyprus on Monday. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) also said it believed the Australians had been detained and was “urgently seeking confirmation” of their welfare. The delegate said so far Israel had boarded more than 38 boats of the flotilla and detained an estimated 400 people from almost 50 countries, “before sinking or destroying many of the boats, which carried a combined hundreds of tonnes of aid”.

DFAT has repeatedly warned Australians against joining efforts to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, due to risks of getting injured, arrested or killed. But the flotilla movement has insisted their efforts are needed to highlight the humanitarian crisis facing the Gaza population and Israel’s policies against Palestinians, regardless of how Israel has repeatedly criticised efforts to break the blockade as being more about garnering global attention for the activists on board than delivering meaningful aid to the people of Gaza.