South Korea said today that Israel has released two of its citizens detained earlier this week aboard the Gaza-bound Global Humanitarian Flotilla “Sumud,” reports Anadolu.

Presidential spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung welcomed the release of activists Kim Ah-hyun and Kim Dong-hyeon, according to Yonhap News Agency. The Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla said on Tuesday that all 50 ships in its convoy had been seized by Israel.

The Lina Al Nabulsi was carrying South Korean activist Kim Ah-hyun and Korean-American activist Jonathan Victor Lee while the Kyriakos X was carrying South Korean activist Kim Dong-hyeon.

On Wednesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung condemned Israel’s detention of two South Korean activists and directed officials to review an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a South Korean media report.

Lee questioned the legal basis for seizing the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid, asking whether the ship had entered Israeli territorial waters or violated any known borders. The flotilla departed last Thursday from the Turkish district of Marmaris in a new attempt to break the illegal Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2007.

This was not the first such incident involving the flotilla. In late April, the Israeli military attacked flotilla ships in international waters near the Greek island of Crete. The caravan at the time included 345 participants from 39 countries, including Turkish citizens.

Israel has imposed a devastating blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2007, leaving the territory’s 2.4 million residents on the brink of starvation. The Israeli military launched a brutal two-year offensive in Gaza in October 2023, killing more than 72,000 Palestinians, injuring over 172,000 others and causing massive destruction throughout the besieged territory.

Source: prizrenpost