Activists detained from the Global Sumud Flotilla have launched an indefinite hunger strike after being seized by Israeli forces, the International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza announced Friday, according to Anadolu Agency.
In a statement, the committee said that several detainees, taken after Israeli naval forces intercepted the flotilla in international waters, “entered an open-ended hunger strike from the moment of their detention.”
The flotilla, comprising nearly 44 vessels and more than 450 passengers from over 50 countries, set out with the goal of delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenging Israel’s long-standing blockade of the enclave. Israeli forces intercepted the fleet on Thursday, detaining almost all of the activists.
The Gaza Strip, home to some 2.4 million people, has been under Israeli blockade for nearly 18 years. The territory has been devastated since the war that erupted in October 2023. According to local health officials, more than 66,200 Palestinians — most of them women and children — have been killed in Israel’s bombardments.
Humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies have warned repeatedly that Gaza is on the brink of becoming uninhabitable. Reports of famine, disease, and the collapse of basic infrastructure have fueled global alarm.
For the detainees of the Sumud Flotilla, the hunger strike is both a protest against their arrest and a signal of solidarity with those still trapped inside Gaza. Their detention has already drawn condemnation and renewed calls for an end to the blockade that rights groups describe as collective punishment.
