South Korean activist detained in Israel after Gaza flotilla attack: Civic groups
ANKARA
A South Korean activist on board an aid vessel attacked by Israeli forces while en route to the Gaza Strip has been detained at a prison in southern Israel, civic groups said Friday.
“Activist Haecho, or Kim Ah-hyun, is said to have been transferred to Ketziot Prison, located in a desert area of southern Israel,” civic groups including the Korea Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine and Gangjeong Friends told Yonhap News Agency.
Kim was aboard one of 11 ships operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) that were attacked by Israeli forces in international waters Wednesday.
The groups condemned Israel’s actions, accusing it of treating the flotilla participants as “terrorists.”
Gangjeong Friends said most activists were sent to Ketziot Prison, “which is notorious for its harsh and abusive conditions,”
On Thursday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung ordered “utmost” diplomatic efforts for Kim’s safe release.
The latest convoy set sail after Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 Gaza-bound boats last week, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining over 450 activists on board. Most have since been deported.
Israel has repeatedly attacked and seized Gaza-bound aid ships in recent years, confiscating their cargo and deporting the activists involved.
It has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and further tightened the siege in March, when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave toward famine.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 67,200 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable.
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