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Italy Begins Repatriating Flotilla Participants After Israeli Interception on Yom Kippur

Italy is flying home 26 nationals as roughly 15 others await judicial expulsions in Israel.

Overview

  • Israeli forces boarded and seized the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters during Yom Kippur, detaining participants and transferring them to Israeli ports and prisons.
  • Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians are departing from Eilat to Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, while about 15 who refused voluntary expulsion paperwork face a court-led process expected within days.
  • Four Italian parliamentarians had already returned to Italy, and several recount confiscated phones and medicines, sleep deprivation and rough handling during processing in Ashdod.
  • Adalah and activists allege denied access to water, toilets and lawyers and other mistreatment; Israeli authorities say detainees are well, underwent inspections and are being processed by immigration services.
  • Israeli officials released video asserting the boats carried little or no humanitarian aid and called the mission a political provocation, a characterization organizers reject as they prepare a complaint in Rome alleging unlawful seizure in international waters, as large pro‑Gaza protests continue across Italy.