Yvonne Ridley on intercepted Gaza flotilla goes missing in Israeli prison

British journalist and activist Yvonne Ridley, who took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla, has gone missing after being imprisoned by Israeli forces while on a humanitarian mission to the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Media, quoting sources, reported on Sunday that Yvonne Ridley, 67, was due to be deported by Israel to Istanbul but disappeared during the transfer. Her current whereabouts are unknown.

Ridley had been held at notorious Ketziot prison on hunger strike and denied her medication.

Ridley was given consular access on Friday, when it was reported that the conditions she was being held in were "deeply concerning."

Her family has been told her treatment has been "aggressive" and "intimidating."

It was understood that Israeli jailers had taken away her medication and provided her with substitutes, which she has refused to take.

Ridley was one of nearly 500 people who took part in the historic mission attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the blockaded Palestinian territory. 

The flotilla had almost reached Gaza when Israeli forces intercepted the convoy overnight on Wednesday and into Thursday, while sailing in international waters.

The Israeli military seized more than 40 boats, detained the activists on board, and took them to Israeli-occupied territories.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Israeli military for its unlawful interception of the Sumud Flotilla in international waters.

Activists have now been imprisoned while awaiting deportation, with a number sent to the notorious Ketziot prison in the Negev desert in the southern part of the Israeli-occupied territories, where human rights abuses have been well documented.

Gaza aid flotilla intercepted

Given the fact the interception operation targeting the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters isn’t the only illegal part, we shed light on every aspect of the Israeli campaign bringing the activists out to head for the shores of Gaza.

Far-right hawkish Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was filmed visiting the jail on Friday, where he had repeatedly said the flotilla activists should be treated as "terrorists" and called for them to be imprisoned for "a few months."

The jailed activists confronted Ben-Gvir and chanted “Free Palestine” in his face during the visit.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, earlier in a statement, strongly condemned the storming of the detention site by the hawkish Israeli minister.

The Palestinian group said that the far-right Israeli minister sought to project an image of triumph over harmless activists, even as his fascist regime faces growing international isolation.

Hamas suggested that Ben-Gvir should be held accountable for insulting the peaceful international activists.

Hamas slams hawkish Israeli minister’s threats against arrested flotilla activists

The Palestinian movement suggested that Ben Gvir must be held accountable for threatening and insulting peaceful international activists.

Massive rallies were held in several European, Asian, and Latin American capitals on Friday in support of Palestine and in condemnation of Israel’s aggressive raids on the Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, ongoing since October 2023, has so far killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

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