Zein Khalil
18 May 2026•Update: 18 May 2026
An Israeli advocacy group for Palestinians, Adalah, on Monday called for legal teams to be granted immediate access to the activists of the Gaza-bound aid ship detained by Israel.
On Monday morning, the Israeli navy began seizing boats belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea and arresting activists.
In a statement obtained by Anadolu, Adalah also called for the disclosure of their places of detention and conditions.
“According to available information so far, Israeli forces have taken control of several ships and led participants away, while details regarding their places of detention and health conditions remain limited at this stage," it stated.
Adalah said that its legal team, along with volunteer lawyers, headed to the port of Ashdod to represent the participants legally immediately after the interception.
"Intercepting civilian vessels in international waters and detaining participants, while preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, constitutes a serious violation of international law and comes as part of Israel’s continued illegal blockade and mass starvation policies against the population in Gaza.”
The center confirmed its legal team will continue to monitor detainees’ conditions and challenge the legality of their detention.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli website Walla reported that about 100 activists had been detained so far from the flotilla, around 100 miles off the Israeli coast.
The flotilla, made up of 54 boats, sailed Thursday from the Turkish Mediterranean city of Marmaris in a renewed attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since the summer of 2007.
* Writing by Serdar Dincel.
