LONDON

Ireland's foreign minister on Wednesday said his “clear priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of our citizens," adding that the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv is in contact with Israeli authorities on "next steps and the well-being of the Irish citizens who have been detained.”

Five Irish citizens are among those detained after Israeli forces attacked another aid flotilla overnight.

Foreign Minister Simon Harris said in a statement that he expects that “all detainees will be transferred to Ashdod port for processing, and from there to a detention facility south of Tel Aviv.”

“I expect this to take most of the day,” he added. “Our embassy team in Tel Aviv will visit our citizens there as soon as possible.”

Officials from across the Department of Foreign Affairs, including staff at the Irish Embassy in Tel Aviv, are “actively engaged with the situation and are providing consular assistance to those affected,” Harris said.

He also confirmed that he is due to receive an update from Ireland’s ambassador to Israel.

The Israeli Navy attacked ships of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Thousand Madleens to Gaza early Wednesday in international waters, roughly 120 nautical miles from the enclave.

The latest convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week, part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, and detained more than 450 activists on board. Most of them have been deported.

Israel, as the occupying power, has also previously attacked Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo, and deported the activists on board.

It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and further tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable. Negotiations to end the war, according to a 20-point plan unveiled by US President Donald Trump, are underway in Egypt.