It was announced in Italy today that Israeli authorities have detained for deportation 40 Italian citizens who were sailing on a humanitarian flotilla of boats to the Gaza Strip, which Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has again criticized.
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"Of course we will do everything in our power to ensure that these people return to Italy as soon as possible," Meloni said in Copenhagen, where she is at an informal meeting of European heads of state and government.
She assessed that the flotilla "brings no benefit to the Palestinian people."
Regarding the call for a general strike in Italy tomorrow, called by the main unions to protest the Israeli interception of the flotilla, the Prime Minister said that the strike would bring "great inconvenience to the Italian people."
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said today that the final number of Italians detained in Israel awaiting deportation will be available after all have been identified.
According to him, all passengers of the flotilla, approximately 400 of them, of all nationalities, will be transported from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv to Europe, possibly to London and Madrid, on two charter flights next Monday or Tuesday.
Among the Italians traveling on the Global Sumud flotilla, which set sail from Spain in late August in an attempt to break through the Israeli blockade of the war-torn Palestinian Gaza Strip, were two domestic and two Italian members of the European Parliament.
On Wednesday evening, the Israeli Navy began intercepting sailboats and boats after warning crews not to enter waters over which Israel claims control.
Several hundred demonstrators protested the flotilla interception in Rome and Naples on Wednesday evening, and a new protest rally is planned for tonight in Rome.
Meloni had previously called the flotilla a "dangerous and irresponsible" initiative, although Italy had sent a frigate to provide possible assistance to the flotilla, which had complained of interference and drone attacks.
The Prime Minister on Tuesday again called for a halt to the flotilla's sailing to the Gaza Strip to avoid jeopardizing United States President (US) Donald Trump's plan to end the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
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