Israel detains all-female crew of Gaza Freedom Flotilla in Givon prison
Oct. 6, 2016 2:26 P.M. (Updated: Oct. 6, 2016 2:27 P.M.)
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BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Female activists who were sailing on board the all-women solidarity ship “Zaytouna” heading towards the besieged Gaza Strip are currently being detained in the Israeli prison of Givon, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) told Ma’an on Thursday.
The 13-person crew of the Zaytouna — which means “olives” in Arabic — was intercepted by Israeli naval forces on Wednesday as their boat entered Israel’s unilaterally declared buffer zone or “military exclusion zone,” off the coast of Gaza.
The women were then detained and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, before being taken to detention facilities.
IPS spokesman Assaf Librati told Ma’an that 11 of the women were being held in the Givon prison in central Israel as of Thursday afternoon, saying that he was not immediately aware of the whereabouts of the two other crew members.
As contradictory information emerged on social media over whether the female activists would be immediately deported, the spokesman said that IPS was still awaiting instructions on their case.