Overview

• Dirco reported that its team met South African detainees at the Negev Israeli prison facility on Sunday and found them in good health and high spirits.
• Those detained include Nkosi Zwelivelile (Mandla) Mandela, Zukiswa Wanner, Reaaz Moolla, Zaheera Soomar and Dr Fatima Hendricks.
• Israeli naval forces intercepted the Global Sumud flotilla on Wednesday, with Israel citing enforcement of a naval blockade and activists rejecting the action as illegal.
• The department said procedures for the detainees’ safe passage and return to South Africa are advancing steadily.
• South Africa welcomed Hamas’s stated readiness to release Israeli hostages under a US proposal and urged Israel to reciprocate with Palestinian prisoner releases in pursuit of a ceasefire.