Gaza Flotilla: Greeks to Return Home Monday

Greece’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday that 27 Greek citizens detained by Israel following the interception of a Gaza aid flotilla are scheduled to return home on Monday. The announcement coincided with separate pro-Palestinian protests in Athens.

The ministry stated that a Greek embassy delegation had visited the 27 participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla while in detention.

“All of them are in good health and are receiving all necessary support,” the ministry said.
“A special flight will depart from the nearby Eilat-Ramon International Airport to safely return the Greek citizens to Athens on Monday.”

Several demonstrations were held in Athens to mark the ongoing humanitarian and political crises:

Tatiana Papadopoulou, a 48-year-old private-sector employee, said: “Today we will honour the dead and victims of the Nova festival, where I personally lost many friends, and among the hostages. We hope the hostages will return home under the new peace plan that is on the table.”

Nearly 400 people died at the Nova music festival in Reim, southern Israel. These were among 1,219 total victims, mostly civilians, of the October 7, 2023 attack, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Meanwhile, Israel’s retaliatory offensive on Gaza has reportedly killed at least 67,074 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.

Riot police kept a few hundred pro-Palestinian protesters at a safe distance from sensitive locations.

Several demonstrators spoke to AFP, expressing concern over the ongoing humanitarian crisis:

• Christos Papaconstantinou, 28, a computer programmer, said: “We will do our best here in Greece and around the world to stop the genocide.”
• Gigi Gommers, a Dutch real estate renovator living in Greece, added: “It has to stop as quickly as possible…. Now, very slowly, some governments are reacting, but it’s much too slow.”

The Global Sumud Flotilla departed last month, ferrying politicians and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, towards Gaza. The United Nations has reported that famine conditions are taking hold in the territory.

The Israeli navy intercepted the flotilla in international waters on Wednesday, preventing the boats, carrying more than 400 people, from reaching Palestinian territory.