{"id":119595,"date":"2026-05-18T15:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/119595\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:29:29","slug":"icjp-condemns-israels-latest-interception-of-at-least-8-british-citizens-on-gaza-flotilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/119595\/","title":{"rendered":"ICJP condemns Israel\u2019s latest\u00a0interception of\u00a0at least 8 British citizens on\u00a0Gaza flotilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

London, 18th\u00a0May 2026\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Israeli military vessels\u00a0have\u00a0intercepted the Global\u00a0Sumud\u00a0Flotilla\u00a0off the coast of Cyprus in international waters. It is\u00a0yet\u00a0another egregious violation of international law and\u00a0a total disregard for\u00a0the law of the sea.\u00a0Israel\u2019s\u00a0repeated violations<\/a>\u00a0of aid flotillas and their activists\u00a0requires\u00a0a total\u00a0condemnation\u00a0and tangible action from governments whose citizens have had their rights\u00a0continually\u00a0violated by Israeli soldiers and officials.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The interception and unlawful detention of non-violent humanitarian activists, which included armed Israeli commandos climbing on to several boats,\u00a0is an act of illegal piracy intended to\u00a0maintain\u00a0Israel\u2019s genocidal and unlawful siege on Gaza. The normalisation of the\u00a0occupation\u00a0and Israel\u2019s total disregard for international law is a threat to\u00a0us all.\u00a0At least\u00a0eight British citizens have\u00a0reportedly been\u00a0intercepted, including Esme Nickerson, Hasnain Jafer, Peter William Henderson, Richard Johan Anderson, Hugh Stuart Stirling, Cerie Bullivant, D\u00e1\u0161a Raimanov\u00e1 and Veronica Otero Guillen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s recent\u00a0detention of the flotilla\u2019s leaders, Spanish national\u00a0Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian national Thiago \u00c1vila\u00a0\u2013 who were allegedly tortured and abused in Israeli detention, was yet another example in the long list of Israel\u2019s acts of impunity\u00a0that deliberately maintain its genocide in Gaza and brutal apartheid across occupied Palestine.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Global\u00a0Sumud\u00a0Flotilla\u2019s humanitarian missions have become a necessary act in the face of deliberate Israeli restrictions on the import of\u00a0aid,\u00a0critical spare parts, back-up\u00a0generators\u00a0and other\u00a0equipment,\u00a0with\u00a0the UN\u00a0saying such missions are\u00a0being\u00a0continually\u00a0undermined by\u00a0Israel\u2019s policies.\u00a0Whilst\u00a0Israel has intercepted the\u00a0flotilla multiple\u00a0times, some of the ships\u00a0remain\u00a0on their mission to deliver aid.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00d3rlaith Roe, ICJP\u2019s Public Affairs and Communications Officer, said:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many times must we say it \u2013 Israel\u2019s interception and detention of humanitarian aid flotillas and their activists headed to Gaza is a total unlawful, illegal, and\u00a0egregious violation of international laws. The lack of any kind of meaningful response from international governments, whose citizens are continually detained and abused by Israeli forces who\u00a0illegally\u00a0board the boats in international waters, is astounding.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is hard not to ignore the\u00a0blatantly obvious double standards when it comes to humanitarian missions intended for Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation, and those of other conflicts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

ENDS\u00a0<\/p>\n

Notes for Editors:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians is an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who support the rights of Palestinians and aim to protect their rights through the law.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more information, to arrange an interview with a spokesperson, please contact the ICJP news desk at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: C messier <\/a>via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London, 18th\u00a0May 2026\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Israeli military vessels\u00a0have\u00a0intercepted the Global\u00a0Sumud\u00a0Flotilla\u00a0off the coast of Cyprus in international waters. It is\u00a0yet\u00a0another egregious violation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[31930,14821,496,1722,4625,37,498,30562],"class_list":["post-119595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-flotilla","tag-foreign-office","tag-gaza","tag-human-rights","tag-international-law","tag-israel","tag-palestine","tag-uk-government"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116596294504690965","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}