WARSAW

A ruling-party Polish parliamentarian, one of four Poles released from Israel's illegal detention after being captured following its forces’ attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla last week, described Israel as a "barbaric state" on Tuesday.

"It is an honor to be a drop of this great wave of solidarity with you. We hope that politicians will also stand with society and begin to counteract this barbaric state that Israel has become and the genocide it is committing," Franciszek Sterczewski, a ruling Civic Coalition (PO) member of Sejm, or the lower house of the bicameral parliament, wrote on Facebook from Athens after being released by Israel.

On the night of October 1-2, activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) were sailing towards the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid when they were attacked in international waters by the Israeli army.

The other three Poles in the Gaza-bound flotilla were Omar Faris, a Palestinian with Polish citizenship; Ewa Jasiewicz, a journalist; and Nina Ptak, the head of the Nomada Association, a Polish non-governmental organization.

The activists refused voluntary deportation and were taken into Israeli custody before being released and sent to Greece. They are expected to return to Poland on Wednesday.

"I report that after six weeks of travel, two drone strikes, interception by Israeli occupation forces, and five days in detention, we are alive," he wrote, adding that the Poles on the expedition were "safe, sound, and constantly determined to continue fighting for a free Palestine."

However, Poland's deputy foreign minister and a presidential spokesman both criticized the flotilla as a "propaganda exercise."

Meanwhile, indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap deal resumed in Egypt on Tuesday.

The Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that Hamas and Israeli negotiators began a second day of negotiations in the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Tuesday marks two years since Israel launched a genocidal attack on Palestinians following Hamas' assault. Since October 2023, the Israeli military has killed over 67,100 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave virtually uninhabitable, resulting in mass displacement, starvation, and the spread of disease.