Ashdod, Israel (EFE).- A total of 473 crew members of the Global Samud Flotilla detained by Israeli authorities in international waters while sailing towards Gaza have been taken to a prison in southern Israel’s Negev Desert, a lawyer told EFE on Friday.
Loubna Tuma, a lawyer from the Adalah legal team representing the flotilla, told EFE the total number of passengers and that they were taken to Saharonim prison, from where they will likely be deported to their home countries.
Tuma could not specify how many agreed to immediate deportation and how many did not, the two options available to those arrested.
Those choosing deportation are taken to the airport to board a flight, and for those who choose the latter option, court proceedings will be initiated.
“The Hamas-Sumud provocation is over. None of the Hamas-Sumud provocation yachts has succeeded in its attempt to enter an active combat zone or breach the lawful naval blockade,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
It added that “all the passengers are safe and in good health” and “making their way safely to Israel, from where they will be deported to Europe.”
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Italian parliamentarians and MEPs who were part of the Flotilla have been transferred to Tel Aviv airport to take a regular flight to Rome.
These include the MEPs Benedetta Scuderi of the Green alliance, Annalisa Corrado of the Democratic Party (DP), Senator Marco Croatti of the Five Star Movement, and MP Arturo Scotto of the DP.
From Wednesday night for 12 hours, the Israeli Navy boarded the more than 40 ships that made up the flotilla one by one, detaining the crews in international waters.
Only one boat appeared to be still sailing Friday morning, according to the vessel tracker.
“One last vessel of this provocation remains at a distance. If it approaches, its attempt to enter an active combat zone and breach the blockade will also be prevented,” Israel’s foreign ministry warned.
Another had made it into Palestinian waters before it was assumed intercepted minutes from shore.
The detainees were taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where they were processed by the police before being taken to the border authorities for immigration procedures.
Throughout the night, this process continued, and most of those arrested were transported in a series of buses from the port to the Saharonim detention center in the town of Kfar Zeitim, near the border with Egypt.
According to an attorney for the flotilla, who spoke to EFE, this detention center was originally designed for undocumented immigrants in Israel and has the capacity to hold the hundreds of crew members. EFE
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