Three flotilla activists seek to return home via Jordan as flights from Israel canceled

Three activists from the Madleen boat, which tried to break Israel’s blockade against Gaza earlier this week, are seeking to return home via Jordan, due to the ongoing closure of Ben Gurion Airport resulting from the current conflict with Iran.

The activists were scheduled to be deported on Friday, but their flights were canceled due to Israel’s airstrikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites in the early hours of Friday morning.

The three activists are Marco van Rennes of The Netherlands, Pascal Maurieras of France, and Yanis Mhamdi also of France. They have been in custody at Givon Prison in Ramle under the Israel Prison Service (IPS) authority since Tuesday.

Lawyers of the Adalah civil rights group, who are representing the activists, sent an urgent letter to Israeli authorities earlier today requesting that the activists be permitted to exit the country via Jordan, to return to their home countries from there.

Some international flights have resumed from Amman.

“Their continued detention is unlawful and a part of Israel’s ongoing violations of international law,” says Adalah.

Four activists were deported on Tuesday after they waived their rights to challenge their detention before a judge, while another five activists were deported on Thursday after the Detention Review Tribunal court rejected their claims.