DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh said on Friday that it is working, with the help of Türkiye, to free its citizen and rights activist Shahidul Alam from an Israeli jail after he was arrested, along with other humanitarians, aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza mission.

Alam, a globally acclaimed photographer and managing director of the Dhaka-based independent media organization Drik, along with all 150 humanitarians, were ambushed and attacked by Israeli naval forces in international waters off Gaza.

They were illegally detained and sent to jail by Israel.

“Efforts are underway with the help of Türkiye to free Shahidul Alam who is being held in Israeli jails,” said Bangladesh's interim government in a statement.

"Turkish authorities have expressed hope that there is every possibility of bringing him to Ankara today (Friday) on a special plane,” it said.

After Alam was illegally detained by Israeli authorities, Bangladesh's embassies in Jordan, Egypt, and Türkiye were asked to contact the foreign ministries of those countries and help take immediate steps to release Alam, it added.

Bangladesh, a South Asian nation of about 170 million people, does not recognize Israel.

Separately, head of the Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE) Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar said nine Malaysians, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza mission, were also illegally detained by the Israelis and "are expected to be among 95 activists (to be) flown to Türkiye on Friday."

"It is understood that the flight will carry activists from 22 countries, possibly including the nine Malaysians and six members of the Global Sumud Flotilla (from Norway, Morocco, and Spain)," said Anwar, according to the local daily Star.

The release of the pro-Palestine activists comes as Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire deal toward ending the two-year Israeli genocidal war on Gaza.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and rendered the enclave largely uninhabitable.