Spain summons top Israeli envoy over Gaza flotilla raid

OVIEDO, Spain

Spain’s Foreign Ministry on Monday summoned Israel’s top diplomat in Madrid to protest the interception of the Freedom Flotilla in international waters, according to local media reports.

The ministry told Spanish daily El Pais and broadcaster Cadena Ser it had summoned Dan Poraz, charge d’affaires at the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, after Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Among the passengers was Spanish activist Sergio Toribio.

“The ministry is in contact with the Spanish national involved, his family and Israel’s Foreign Ministry, and is providing consular assistance,” it told El Pais.

Poraz is the highest-ranking Israeli diplomat in Spain after Tel Aviv recalled its ambassador amid Madrid’s criticism of the Gaza war and recognition of Palestinian statehood.

It was the second time in three weeks that the Israeli envoy had been summoned.

On May 21, the Foreign Ministry protested the Israeli army’s gunfire targeting an international diplomatic delegation in the occupied West Bank, which included a staff member from the Spanish Consulate General in Jerusalem.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers kidnapped 12 people on board the Madleen, including 11 activists and one journalist, said the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international NGO, which organized the mission.

The aid ship set sail for Gaza on June 1 from the Port of San Giovanni Li Cuti in Sicily, Italy.

The boat, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was en route to Gaza carrying supplies such as baby formula and medical materials, and had activists aboard.

Among the 12-strong crew aboard the aid ship are Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

Other activists aboard the Madleen aid ship include Yasemin Acar from Germany; Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi, and Reva Viard from France; Thiago Avila from Brazil; Suayb Ordu from Türkiye; Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands; and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, also from France.

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