ISTANBUL

Foreign activists aboard a Gaza aid ship seized by Israel launched an open-ended hunger strike to protest their detention, an Israeli legal center said on Monday.

The Handala ship, carrying baby formula, food, and medicine, was seized by Israeli forces near the Gaza coast on Saturday night, with 21 unarmed civilians on board, including lawmakers, medics, and volunteers.

“Most of them remain on an open-ended hunger strike to protest their forced detention,” the Adalah legal center said in a statement.

Court hearings were held on Monday for 14 detained activists who refused to consent to deportation orders at Givon Prison in Ramla, central Israel.

“During the hearings, the volunteers stressed that their mission was humanitarian – motivated by the need to act against Israel’s illegal siege and the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Adalah said.

“The genocide, now in its 22nd month, has caused mass starvation and deaths from malnutrition, including of dozens of children.”

During the hearings, US national Christian Smalls and several female activists reported severe physical violence and deplorable detention conditions, including a lack of ventilation despite extreme heat and the absence of basic sanitary supplies for women.

The center said earlier that five of the activists have already been deported or are expected to be deported in the coming hours.

The aid ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), set sail from Italy in an attempt to break a months-long Israeli siege, which has left Gaza’s 2.4 million population on the verge of famine.

In recent months, Israel has intercepted multiple Gaza-bound aid ships in international waters.

In June, Israeli forces seized the Madleen, detaining 12 international activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and French Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan. A month earlier, the MV Conscience was attacked by drones near Malta.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2, has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of aid convoys and ignoring international calls to reopen them.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 147 people have died of starvation since October 2023, including 88 children.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.