{"id":426774,"date":"2026-05-01T10:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426774\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T10:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T10:21:11","slug":"all-seven-irish-citizens-detained-by-israeli-authorities-released-in-crete-after-seizure-of-gaza-flotilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426774\/","title":{"rendered":"All seven Irish citizens detained by Israeli authorities released in Crete after seizure of Gaza flotilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

All seven Irish citizens detained by Israeli authorities released in Crete on Friday morningSeven people were part of a 175-boat Gaza-bound flotilla which was intercepted in international waters by Israeli authorities on Wednesday nightPresident Catherine Connolly\u2019s sister, Margaret, is understood to be still on her boat off the coast of the Greek island of Crete\n<\/p>\n

The Global Sumud Flotilla confirmed on Friday morning that all participants except two were released in Crete, including all Irish citizens.<\/p>\n

In a statement on social media, they said: “Saif and Thiago have been taken hostage by the IOF after the remaining captive participants were released in Crete.\u201d<\/p>\n

“We demand the immediate release. We call on global governments to pressure the Israeli regime to release our comrades now,\u201d they said in a post on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe demand that all governments do all they can to pressure the Israeli regime to release all the illegal abductees,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

Robert Murphy, Martin Guilfoyle, Fiach \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in, Colm Byrne, Catr\u00edona Graham, Michael Fix and John Connellan were announced by \u00c9ire Global Sumud as the Irish people who were captured.<\/p>\n

\"Catr\u00edona<\/p>\n

Catr\u00edona Graham, Colm Peter Byrne, Fiacc \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in, Martin Guilfoyle and Robert Murphy, from top, left to right<\/p>\n

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Helen McEntee, had condemned the seizure of the Gaza flotilla off the coast of Greece.<\/p>\n

The seven Irish citizens, who were aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, were being held after the Israeli military intercepted some of its boats in international waters on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

In a statement earlier on Friday morning, Minister McEntee said: “I condemn the seizure of vessels participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters off the coast of Greece.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI call on the Israeli authorities to immediately release all Irish citizens detained during this operation, to uphold their obligations under international law, and to guarantee the safety and welfare of all those on board,\u201d she wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

Ms McEntee confirmed the Department of Foreign Affairs will provide consular assistance to any Irish citizens arriving in Greece.<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficials from my Department, including staff at our Embassy in Athens, have been engaging with the relevant authorities and stand ready to provide consular assistance to any Irish citizens arriving in Greece as a result of these developments,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy clear priority is the safety and wellbeing of all Irish citizens involved,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

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The wife of one of the Irish activists captured spoke of her shock that the Israeli Defence Forces raided the vessels.<\/p>\n

Mr \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in\u2019s wife, Rachel McNicholl, said he is a very experienced seafarer who trained crews and volunteered to skipper the first leg of the route.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was always that he would come home from Greece,\u201d Ms McNicholl told the Irish Independent on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s 74 and he didn\u2019t really think it would be a good idea to end up in an Israeli jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was very worried for her husband\u2019s welfare but also \u201cshocked\u201d Israel forces came so far north.<\/p>\n

The boats were about 45 nautical miles west of Crete and around 800 nautical miles from Israel, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re nowhere near Israel, and yet, the Israeli military went in with drones and then started boarding boats, wrecking navigation systems, and some people have just disappeared.<\/p>\n

Ms McNicholl said she believed this was the first time Israel had gone so far into European waters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey knew it was a risky kind of operation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as far as I was concerned, as far as he was concerned, there would be very little risk between Sicily and Greece.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re nowhere near Israel. They\u2019re nowhere near Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I hope that the Israeli government doesn\u2019t get away with this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the Department of Foreign Affairs had been in touch and were working where the Irish citizens are.<\/p>\n

Connolly<\/p>\n

President Catherine Connolly\u2019s sister, Dr Margaret Connolly, is understood to be still on her boat with other activists off the coast of the Greek island of Crete.<\/p>\n

Under Article 87 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, international waters \u2013 formally referred to as the \u201chigh seas\u201d \u2013 are open for freedom of navigation, over which Israel has no jurisdiction.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An aid boat during its capture by Israel Defence Forces (IDF)<\/p>\n

Louise McCormack from Moate, Co Westmeath, who is on the same vessel as Dr Connolly, managed to evade capture by Israeli military when interceptions began.<\/p>\n

“The boats around us were intercepted, but there were too many of us for the Israelis to catch. So it was kind of a cat and mouse situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Israeli forces reportedly chased down boats within the flotilla over a period of eight hours.<\/p>\n

Another source who witnessed the incident told the Irish Independent that around 10 soldiers held various activists “at gunpoint\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ms McCormack continued: \u201cA boat that was probably 10 metres from us was approached by two Ribs [rigid inflatable boats]. One of them went up beside it, and then a second one came in and rammed it, and they rammed it until they both pulled out a flare. That alerted everyone really quickly to something.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Louise<\/p>\n

Louise McCormack<\/p>\n

After her boat sped up to evade Israeli detection and capture throughout the night, it was approached by another boat about 20 nautical miles outside of Greek waters.<\/p>\n

“A boat approached us at high speed, and we did our protocol. We put our life jackets on, announced over the radio that we were a peaceful humanitarian mission, and they said that they were the Greek Coast Guard responding to an SOS from a sailboat of one of our fellow ships,\u201d Ms McCormack said.<\/p>\n

\"Catr\u00edona<\/p>\n

Catr\u00edona Graham, Colm Peter Byrne, Fiacc \u00d3 Brolch\u00e1in, Martin Guilfoyle and Robert Murphy, from top, left to right<\/p>\n

Israeli military raids flotilla which includes President Connolly\u2019s sister <\/p>\n

“We told them what happened, and they went off then to go and find that that boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms McCormack urged the Irish Government to act, and decried Israel\u2019s apparent ability to \u201cact with impunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

“Our Government will not hold Israel to account for breaching international law. What they do to the Palestinians, everyone seems to be able to accept. When they do breach international law to European citizens, people are more outraged,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI wish that people would be outraged by the tens of thousands of children that have been slaughtered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign ministry published a photo on social media of what it claimed were \u201ccondoms and drugs\u201d found on board the intercepted vessels. It showed what appeared to be a small see-through bag containing white powder.<\/p>\n

The flotilla organisers did not immediately respond to the accusation. However, online supporters accused Israel accused of spreading disinformation.<\/p>\n

The flotilla had been expected to reach Gaza this weekend but the IDF has demanded that the vessels turn back or sail to the Israeli port of Ashdod to deliver their humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of activists, including Greta Thunberg, were detained when 40 to 50 vessels approached Gaza last autumn. A flotilla in spring last year was disrupted by Israel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All seven Irish citizens detained by Israeli authorities released in Crete on Friday morningSeven people were part of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[180589,97,42,3410,1286,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-426774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-galway-news","tag-gaza","tag-headlines","tag-israel","tag-keith-kelly","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426774","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=426774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}