While the ministry wouldn\u2019t comment on individual cases for privacy reasons, it said \u201cpractical consular advice\u201d had been given to groups in touch with New Zealanders involved in the flotilla.<\/p>\n
It reiterated New Zealand\u2019s advisory not to travel to Gaza amid Israel\u2019s offensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advisory explicitly warns New Zealanders against any attempt to enter Gaza by sea in breach of Israeli navy restrictions, including participation in flotillas to deliver aid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the flotilla\u2019s interception reinforced the Government\u2019s advice not to travel to Gaza. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why we say, \u2018Do not travel to Gaza\u2019,[it\u2019s] been a pretty clear explanation for a long period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the Government expected any New Zealanders to be handled by Israel officials in accordance with international law. <\/p>\n
The Global Sumud Flotilla \u2013 about 45 vessels carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg \u2013 left Spain last month aiming to break Israel\u2019s blockade of the Palestinian territory, where the United Nations says famine has set in.<\/p>\n
\u201cAround 8.30pm Gaza time [8.30am NZT], several vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, including the Alma, Sirius and Adara, were illegally intercepted and boarded by Israeli occupation forces in international waters,\u201d the flotilla said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeyond the confirmed interceptions, livestreams and communications with several other vessels have been lost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 Additional reporting: AFP<\/p>\n
Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald\u2019s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whang\u0101rei and the Herald in Auckland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the ministry wouldn\u2019t comment on individual cases for privacy reasons, it said \u201cpractical consular advice\u201d had been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[44096,16751,806,1558,3595,46661,22973,46659,4756,16945,46658,46662,42,46660,185,5873,46663,807,6804,28874,46664,117,43,1118,10711,421,766,16121,6302,165,1529,40,38,41,39,5977,80,24750],"class_list":["post-55326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-aboard","tag-affairs","tag-as","tag-been","tag-by","tag-contacting","tag-counterparts","tag-flotilla","tag-foreign","tag-gaza","tag-gazabound","tag-headed","tag-headlines","tag-intercepted","tag-is","tag-israel","tag-israels","tag-kiwis","tag-light","tag-ministry","tag-navy","tag-new","tag-news","tag-of","tag-officials","tag-paramount","tag-reports","tag-responds","tag-safety","tag-their","tag-three","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-which","tag-zealand","tag-zealanders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}