SEPANG, May 19 — The Sumud Nusantara Command Centre (SNCC) has confirmed that nine vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), carrying 16 Malaysians, were intercepted by Israel at 8pm Malaysian time.
SNCC director-general Datuk Sani Araby Abdul Alim Araby said the vessels were approached aggressively by the Israeli navy in international waters near Cyprus.
“When the incident occurred, the flotilla was about 241 nautical miles from the Gaza coast, in international waters recognised under international maritime law as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and outside any country’s blockade,” he told a press conference here last night.
The ships and the Malaysians they were carrying are:
Amanda — Zainal Rashid Ahmad
Isobella — Muhamad Muhsin Zaidi
Cactus — Mohammad Shazly Mohammad Shees and Tengku Ahmad Taufik Tengku Noor Zahari
Ferluto — Patmanathan Sivasamy, Muhammad Amirul Afif Mohd Azhar, and Dr Syakirin Muhamed Senin
Bianca ITA — Abdul Samad Selamat and Naufa Azhari
Gotico — Mohammad Farizzal Rostam and Muhammad Zaid Abdul Karim
Abodes — Norazman Ishak
Themis — Hazwan Hazim Dermawan, Mohd Shamsir Mohd Isa and Osman Zolkifli
Josef — Ahmad Musa Al-Nuwayri Kamaruzaman
Sani Araby said SNCC has informed Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of the matter and requested the Malaysian government’s intervention to urge the European Union, Turkiye, Spain and other parties to condemn the attack on the humanitarian mission.
Meanwhile, he said the GSF 2.0 detainees are expected to be held in a “floating prison” before being taken to Ashdod port for documentation and deportation.
“The prison ship is a naval vessel capable of accommodating many people and is used as a detention facility,” he said.
He added that the use of such a vessel is a tactic by Israel to detain GSF 2.0 activists for a longer period and to avoid international legal pressure.
“I expect they will be taken to the detention vessel. If they are taken directly to Ashdod, they would be subject to new laws requiring detainees to be released within 24 hours,” Sani Araby said.
