Eleven Irish citizens who were on board the flotilla bringing aid to Gaza have arrived at Dublin airport after being deported from Israel.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) was intercepted on Monday and the activists were detained by Israeli soldiers.
The Irish activists were sent to Turkey on Friday, before being flown to Ireland.
In total, 14 Irish people were among hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who were detained in Israel.
On Saturday, a crowd of more than 400 supporters met them after their flight from Istanbul landed in Dublin.
Among them was Thomas Deasy from Belfast.
He told RTÉ News that activists had known there was a good chance they would be detained but added the force used aganist them was “more than we ever, ever imagined”.
There was an international backlash in response to a video posted by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, showing him taunting activists kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs.
In a statement on his X account, the Taoiseach (Irish prime minster) Micheál Martin said he was “appalled at the shocking behaviour” of Ben-Gvir.
Speaking after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Thursday, Martin said there was “a lot of anger” across the EU at the video.
He said it had “shocked the world” and “accelerated” the mood at EU level for action against Israel.
Ben-Gvir’s actions also drew rare criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said they were “not in line with Israel’s values”.
Among the Irish citizens deported was Dr Margaret Connolly, sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly.
In a statement, a spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “All foreign activists from the PR flotilla have been deported from Israel.
“Israel will not permit any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza.”
More than 50 boats taking part in the GSF set sail from Turkey carrying a token amount of aid. 430 from more than 40 countries were on board.
Israel dismissed the action as a “PR stunt at the service of Hamas”.
On Monday morning, armed Israeli naval commandos began intercepting the fleet in international waters west of Cyprus, about 250 nautical miles (460km) from the coast of Gaza, which is under an Israeli maritime blockade.
Clare Azzougarh told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme her father Malcolm Ducker, who is in his early 70s, was one of the British citizens detained and she had no information on what was happening.
“We know they’ve been taken to Ketziot prison but otherwise we’re completely in the dark.”
Azzougarh added her father, who is a retired RAF pilot, was on a flotilla which was intercepted in October but this year’s arrests were “indeed an escalation of extreme violence”.
By BBC News
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