Global Sumud Flotilla detainees launch indefinite hunger strike following Israeli illegal attack on vessels
Israeli naval forces attacked boats carrying aid to Gaza on Thursday, detaining more than 470 activists from over 50 countries
Israel brings seized Global Sumud Flotilla ships and activists to Ashdod Port, Israel on October 02, 2025. (Photo by Saeed Qaq)
ANKARA
Detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla have been on an indefinite hunger strike since being held by Israeli forces, the International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza said on Friday.
In a statement, the committee said several activists held aboard the flotilla vessels attacked in international waters “announced that they have entered an open-ended hunger strike from the moment of their detention.”
The Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, which is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, separately announced that the Tunisian participants in the flotilla have begun an open-ended hunger strike after being detained by Israel in international waters.
In a statement published Friday on the US social media company Facebook, the Maghreb Flotilla said: “The Tunisian participants declare their entry into an open-ended hunger strike from the moment they arrived at Ashdod Port in occupied Palestine (Thursday), before being transferred to Ketziot Prison in the Negev Desert, where they await an unlawful trial.”
The hunger strike will not end "until they are fully freed and their message is delivered to the entire world,” it said.
The resolve of the Tunisian activists in captivity is an extension of the steadfastness of besieged Gaza, it said, adding: "We carry with us the will of an undefeatable people, and our resolve will not be broken by invalid trials nor deliberate starvation."
According to an Anadolu correspondent, around 25 Tunisians were aboard the Sumud Flotilla, including parliamentarian Mohamed Ali Suleiman.
Israeli naval forces attacked and seized almost all of the 44 vessels of the humanitarian flotilla on Thursday and detained more than 470 activists from over 50 countries. The flotilla sought to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and break Israel’s blockade of the enclave.
Israel has maintained the blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed over 66,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children. UN agencies and rights groups have repeatedly warned that Gaza is being rendered uninhabitable, with starvation and disease spreading rapidly.
