RSF condemns ‘kidnapping’ of three journalists on board Gaza aid flotilla

Among the detained journalists are Al Jazeera correspondent Hafed Mribah and cameraman Mahmut Yavuz.

Reporters without Borders (known by its French acronym RSF) has condemned Israel for “kidnapping” three journalists on board the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, which Israel intercepted while it was travelling in international waters.

In a post on social media Thursday, RSF said it “condemns the kidnapping in international waters by the Israeli army” of French correspondent Hafed Mribah and Turkish cameraman Mahmut Yavuz, who both work for Al Jazeera, and journalist Alex Colston, who works for US media outlet Zeteo.

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“Israel is responsible for their safety,” said RSF.

Al Jazeera expressed “its deep concern for the safety” of its journalists.

“The Network holds the Israeli authorities fully responsible for the safety of its colleagues Hafedh and Mahmut, and calls on the international community to take a unified stance against Israel’s repeated violations of international law and conventions,” it said in a statement.

Al Jazeera, which said it lost contact with its team on board the flotilla, “reaffirms its commitment to press freedom and calls for the protection of all journalists, and for enabling them to carry out their duties freely and without obstruction”, concluded the statement.

Organisers said Israel intercepted 22 of 58 vessels that were bound for Gaza late on Wednesday in international waters off Greece’s Peloponnese Peninsula, hundreds of miles from the Palestinian coastline.

The organisers said 211 people were detained, and Israel said it would transport detainees to Greece.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez accused Israel of “once again violating international law by attacking a civilian flotilla in waters that do not belong to it”, urging the European Union to freeze bilateral ties.

Following Israel’s interception of a previous Gaza-bound aid flotilla in October, some activists who were detained alleged that Israeli authorities subjected them to physical and mental abuse, including beatings, forced kneeling, blindfolding and sleep deprivation.

Israel said accusations by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and the 170 other detained activists that they had been mistreated and denied basic rights while in detention were “fake news”.

Based on testimonies collected from 59 Palestinian journalists imprisoned by Israel after the Hamas-led October 2023 attacks, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a February report that Israeli authorities routinely subject journalists to systemic abuse, including torture, severe beatings, sexual violence, starvation, and medical neglect while in detention.

Many of the journalists interviewed said they were also held under administrative detention without charge.