Get you up to speed: Ireland confirms detention of six citizens by Israel during aid flotilla mission
Dr Margaret Connolly, sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, is among at least six Irish citizens detained by Israeli forces while aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla. The boats were intercepted approximately 70 nautical miles off Cyprus during a humanitarian mission to deliver aid to Gaza.
Dr Margaret Connolly was part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which aimed to deliver aid and medical supplies to those in Gaza, according to her statement. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland is actively monitoring the situation regarding the flotilla and is engaging with the relevant authorities.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has lost contact with the intercepted boats, which were part of a larger humanitarian mission to deliver aid and medical supplies to Gaza. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland is actively monitoring the situation and engaging with the relevant authorities regarding the detained Irish citizens.
Sister of ‘worried’ Irish president detained in Israel after Gaza aid flotilla intercepted | News World
The sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly is one of at least six Irish citizens aboard a flotilla who have been detained by Israel.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said Dr Margaret Connolly was aboard one of the 10 boats intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces on Monday morning.
Organisers said the interception happened approximately 70 nautical miles off Cyprus, with at least six of 15 Irish participants among those detained.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said it has lost contact with the intercepted boats, part of a 60-strong aid flotilla for Gaza.
President Connolly has said the incident is ‘quite upsetting’, and while very proud of her sister, she is ‘very worried about her’.
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Dr Connolly went with the aim of delivering aid and medical supplies to Gazans (Picture: Margaret Connolly)
She added: ‘This is the largest one to date, and now we sail for Gaza to open a humanitarian pathway to bring much-needed aid and medical supplies to the people of Gaza.
‘I feel utterly compelled – as a mother, a doctor, and as a human being – to help in this flotilla. I wish to appeal to the Irish government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill without fail.
‘The cause of Palestine is the moral compass of our time, it is what makes us human. Their humanity is our humanity.’
Karen Moynihan, Irish lead for the Global Sumud Flotilla, told the Press Association that six Irish citizens had been ‘kidnapped’.
She added: ’15 Irish people – along with hundreds of other people – completely legally sailing on a humanitarian mission, have been intercepted and abused again by Israel.
The sister of Ireland’s President is being held by Israeli forces (Picture: Global Sumud Flotilla)
‘Currently, over the past seven months, 33 Irish citizens have been kidnapped by Israel, and our government is considering whether they’re even going to sanction Israel – it is absolutely horrific, and the government needs to be called out fully on its complicity in genocide, and there is no other way to put it.’
A spokesperson for the flotilla said there is no legal basis for the arrest of participants trying to deliver aid.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Ireland said officials ‘are actively monitoring the situation regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla’ and are engaging with the relevant authorities.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry, on X, described the flotilla as a ‘provocation and a search for publicity’ and claimed there was no aid on board.
It added: ‘The purpose of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan.’
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