Six more activists who tried to sail to Gaza heading to airport for deportation, rights group says

Six activists from the Madleen boat that sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza earlier this week are being taken to Ben Gurion Airport for deportation, the Adalah civil rights organization says.

The six volunteers expected to be deported today or early tomorrow morning are Mark van Rennes from the Netherlands, Suayb Ordu from Turkey, Yasemin Acar from Germany, Thiago Avila from Brazil, Reva Viard from France, and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.

The two remaining activists, Pascal Maurieras and Yanis Mhamdi, both of whom are also French, are scheduled to be deported tomorrow and will remain in custody at Givon Prison in Ramle until then.

Four activists from the Madleen waived their right to be brought before a judge and were therefore deported immediately. The other eight challenged their detention after the Israeli navy intercepted the Madleen in international waters and towed the vessel to the Port of Ashdod. But the Detention Review Tribunal ruled that the naval blockade on Gaza is lawful under Israeli law and that the activists knowingly attempted to breach it and were therefore lawfully detained.