{"id":424271,"date":"2026-04-30T00:15:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/424271\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T00:15:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T00:15:08","slug":"israel-begins-intercepting-gaza-aid-flotilla-catherine-connollys-sister-is-part-of-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/424271\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel begins intercepting Gaza aid flotilla Catherine Connolly\u2019s sister is part of \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Israel<\/a> \u200chas begun taking control \u200cof aid ships bound for \u200bGaza<\/a> far from Israeli shores, Israeli army<\/a> radio \u200bcited an Israeli source \u2060as saying on \u200cWednesday.<\/p>\n

President Catherine Connolly<\/a>\u2019s sister, Margaret Connolly, is aboard one of the vessels currently forming part of the flotilla.<\/p>\n

The \u200creport \u200bdid not specify the \u2060number \u200bof vessels \u200binvolved or their exact \u200clocation.<\/p>\n

On April 12th, \u200ba second flotilla, the Global Sumud Flotila, \u2060carrying \u2060humanitarian \u200baid to Palestinians in Gaza sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona, aiming to \u200ctry \u2060to break the Israeli blockade. <\/p>\n

Connolly, originally from Co Galway, is a GP and activist based in Co Sligo. She is one of the President\u2019s 13 siblings.<\/p>\n

In a statement late on Wednesday night, Global Sumud Flotilla said: \u201cIsraeli military boats have illegally surrounded the flotilla in international waters and threatened kidnapping and violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunications with 11 vessels have been lost and Israeli media claims that 7 boats have been intercepted.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernments must act now to protect the flotilla … hold Israel accountable for these flagrant violations of international law and for Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Sligo Champion before her departure, Connolly said: \u201cI have joined the flotilla because we cannot stand by while millions are subjected to forced starvation and an illegal siege.<\/p>\n

The newspaper quotes her as saying Palestinians have called for a resolution to the conflict based on international law and ascertaining full rights for Palestinian citizens in Israel.<\/p>\n

The flotilla has said its objective is \u201cbreaking the illegal blockade on Gaza and establishing a people\u2019s sea corridor\u201d for food and medicines and other essential supplies, it said on social media.<\/p>\n

It also claims to have assembled the largest fleet dedicated to breaking the siege of Gaza, with more than 1,000 participants.<\/p>\n

Last year, a flotilla carrying aid attempted to reach Gaza but was intercepted by the Israeli military. Fifteen Irish people were on board the vessels when they were intercepted, as was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. Hundreds of participants were detained in Israel before being deported. \u2013 Additional reporting: Reuters<\/p>\n

More to follow …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Israel \u200chas begun taking control \u200cof aid ships bound for \u200bGaza far from Israeli shores, Israeli army radio…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3656,3409,42,3410,4267,3411,43,4268,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-424271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-catherine-connolly","tag-gaza-strip","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-israel-defence-forces","tag-israel-hamas-conflict","tag-news","tag-palestine","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}