UPDATED: Israel has been accused of breaching international law by the lawyers of the civilian aid ship, the Madleen.
This comes after Israel’s military seized the boat with a crew of activists, including Greta Thunberg. The activists are expected to be held at the Israeli port in advance of deportation hearings.
After being captured, Israel Katz said the activists would be made to watch a video of Hamas’ 7 October massacre, but once they found out what the film was about, the activists “refused to continue watching”.
The activists on the Madleen were attempting to bring a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza, which faces a looming famine after 11 weeks of total siege and ongoing restrictions on food entering the territory.
Lawyers from the Freedom Flotilla argue that the crew should not have been taken to Israeli soil only to be deported, as it was seized on international waters.
"We're basically talking about people who were sailing in international waters, and then Israel basically captured them and abducted them into Israel," lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih said.
"And even the legal procedure they are willing to take does not apply to them, because they are talking about illegal people who entered Israel illegally.
"But the situation we're talking about now is a situation that Israel brought those people inside of Israel, and now they want to deport them based on the claims that they entered Israel illegally."
Many around the world have reacted to the interception, sharing concern for the activists.
Israel Foreign Ministry said the boat was docked and that all the activists on the vessel, including Thunberg, were "undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health".
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