Brazil said Tuesday 13 of its citizens detained by Israel on a Gaza aid flotilla were on their way home.
The group, including lawmaker Luizianne Lins of the ruling Workers’ Party, “were taken to the border with Jordan and released,” Brasilia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail last month, ferrying politicians and activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg towards Gaza, where the United Nations says famine is taking hold.
Israel, which has tightened a blockade on Gaza during its war on Hamas, intercepted some 45 small boats and detained more than 470 peoplelast week.
“After six days of illegal imprisonment in Israel, the 13 Brazilians of the Sumud Global Flotilla are finally free,” Lins wrote on Instagram. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday demanded Israel ensure the safe return of Brazilian nationals and said it had violated international law by intercepting the flotilla in international waters.
The same day, as 171 flotilla passengers arrived in Athens following deportation from Israel, one activist claimed they had been “treated like animals” during detention. Israel denied the allegation and insisted that the legal rights of the detainees were fully respected.
