Israel faced international condemnation and protests on Thursday after its forces intercepted about 40 boats carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, to Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), the organiser of the voyage, said an estimated 443 volunteers had been detained, some of them transferred to one large cargo vessel before being taken ashore.
Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday criticised Israeli aggression, saying it showed Israel's government has no intention of letting hopes for peace grow.
"I condemn the thuggery directed at the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set out to draw attention to the barbarity of children dying of hunger in Gaza and to deliver humanitarian aid to the oppressed Palestinians,” he said in a speech to officials from his AK Party in the capital Ankara.
The Istanbul chief prosecutor's office said it had launched an investigation into the detention of 24 Turkish citizens on the vessels, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.
Israel began its Gaza offensive after the October 7 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. The offensive has killed over 66,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say.
In a statement, Hamas expressed support for the activists and called Israel's interception of the flotilla a "criminal act", calling for public protests to condemn Israel. – Reuters
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