ISTANBUL

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli announced that 18 Turkish citizens aboard the vessels of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which were seized by Israel, will return to Türkiye on Friday afternoon via a special flight.

Keceli said through the US social media company X: “The 18 citizens on the Freedom Flotilla vessels seized by Israel are coming to our country this afternoon on a specially arranged flight. With this flight, we are evacuating a total of 94 activists from 21 countries.”

The Israeli navy attacked ships of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's Thousand Madleens convoy to Gaza early Wednesday in international waters, roughly 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers) from the enclave.

The convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats last week that were part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla and detained over 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.​​​​​​​

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.