Israeli authorities have said that they are deporting the activists on board the Global Sumud Flotilla to Europe after having intercepted them in international waters on October 1.
Around 45 vessels bound for Gaza with humanitarian aid were intercepted by Israel, a move that drew sharp criticism from the international community, including Turkey and Colombia, who described the interception as terrorism.
The Colombian president, in fact, ordered the expulsion of Israeli diplomats from his country in response to the detention of two residents.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested in Spain and Italy against the interception of the Gaza aid flotilla and the detention of its activists.
Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, said Cairo is working with Turkey and Qatar to convince Hamas to agree to US President Donald Trump’s latest peace plan to end the Gaza war.
Also Read: Gaza aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli warships
“If Hamas refuses, it will be very difficult and we will have more escalation,” he said, adding, “That’s why we are exerting intensive efforts to make this plan applicable and to get the approval of Hamas”.
The situation in Gaza is tense as a severe humanitarian crisis rages in the besieged strip, marked by a shortage of essentials and basic amenities. Besides hunger and famine, disease is spreading quickly since people are living under unhygienic conditions with very little access to clean water.
Abdelatty said they are “supportive of the Trump plan and the vision to end war and need to move forward”.
“There are a lot of holes that need to be filled; we need more discussions on how to implement it, especially on two important issues, governance and security arrangements,” he added.
But, he said, “one party” should not be given an excuse to “use Hamas as a pretext for this mad daily killing of civilians.”
The minister described the Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip as being “far beyond the seventh of October,” referring to the day Hamas struck Israel and took hostages.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 66,200 people so far, and injured more than 150,000 people, with thousands more buried under rubble as Israel continues its offensive.
“It is beyond revenge; this is ethnic cleansing and genocide in motion,” said Abdelatty. “Enough is enough.”
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