Turks, foreigners fly to Istanbul after Israel halts Gaza flotilla

Thirty-six Turks and nationals from 12 countries were due to arrive Saturday by a special flight to Istanbul after Israel stopped a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and detained hundreds of people, Turkish officials said.

A Turkish diplomatic source said the plane carried 137 flotilla participants including 36 Turkish nationals and was expected to land at 15:40 local time (1240 GMT).

"The plane carrying our citizens and third-country nationals has taken off for Istanbul," the source added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli announced earlier Saturday that a special flight had been chartered to fly the detained activists back from Israel.

Turkey has called the Israeli interception on the flotilla "an act of terrorism" and on Thursday said it had opened an investigation after Israeli forces arrested Turkish citizens on board the flotilla.

Israel blocked similar flotilla attempts to reach the Gaza Strip in June and July.

The Turkish diplomatic source said nationals from the United States, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Jordan planned to be on the Turkish Airlines flight.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italian nationals would be on the plane to Istanbul.

"A first batch of 26 Italian citizens who were on board the flotilla is about to leave Israel on a charter flight," he said on X.

"We have placed them on a Turkish flight to Istanbul. They have already been transferred to Ramon air base and will take off from Eilat Airport (south)," he added.

The other 15 Italians did not sign the voluntary release form and will wait for their judicial expulsion due next week, according to the minister.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg heading to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

The Israeli navy has intercepted vessel after vessel at sea since Wednesday, after warning the activists against entering waters it says fall under its blockade.

The flotilla organisers have branded Israel's interceptions "illegal" since the vessels were traversing international waters.

Israel said it would deport pro-Palestinian activists on the flotilla to Europe, adding that none of the vessels had breached its maritime exclusion zone of the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the soldiers and commanders of the navy who carried out their interception mission.

The boats, with dozens of activists from around the world on board, initially set sail from several European ports.

After a 10-day stop in Tunisia, where organisers reported two drone attacks, the flotilla resumed its journey on 15 September.