MEXICO CITY

Mexico's Foreign Ministry has said the Mexican delegation of the Global Sumud Flotilla returned safe and sound to the country.

Sol Gonzalez Eguia, Ernesto Ledesma Arronte, Arlin Medrano Guzman, Carlos Perez Osorio, Diego Vazquez Galindo, and Laura Alejandra Velez Ruiz Gaitan landed in Mexico City's international airport after their arrest in Israel, the ministry said Wednesday.

The six were accompanied by Mexican Ambassador to Israel Mauricio Escanero, and welcomed by Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente, along with friends and relatives, at the airport's military base.

The Sumud Flotilla aimed to get humanitarian aid to Gaza after two years of relentless attacks, which have been labeled by the international community—including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum—as a genocide.

Sheinbaum demanded the safe return of the Mexican nationals since the interception of the flotilla in international waters last week.

According to Sheinbaum, all expenses to return the Mexican Sumud members were taken care of by the Mexican government.

The president said during a briefing on Wednesday that the Mexican Sumud delegation has not requested a meeting with her, although she said she is open to meeting them.

Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week that were part of the Gaza-bound flotilla and detained over 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.

Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo and deported the activists on board.​​​​​​​

It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and 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 attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.