ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan among 211 activists “kidnapped” by Israeli Defense Forces in what organizers describe an “illegal raid” in the international waters close to the Greek Island of Crete early Thursday.
The Gaza-bound fleet carrying humanitarian aid in 58 ships was attempting to intercept the blockade imposed by Israel around Gaza before being captured by the Israeli Navy almost a thousand kilometers away, according to the organizers of the fleet.
“The GSF [Gaza Samud Flotilla] was peacefully sailing in international waters when multiple vessels’ radio communications were suddenly jammed,” the ground team of the organizers said in a statement.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, killing more than 70,000 Palestinians and displacing most of the population. The Jewish state had effectively put a siege on the city, causing a man-made famine as all humanitarian aid was blocked.
"Last night [Wednesday night], the Global Sumud Flotilla was subjected to an illegal raid by the Israeli Occupation Forces off the coast of Crete.”
“Multiple boats reported sighting dozens of drones and seeing multiple large military vessels and speedboats,” the statement added.
"At least 22 of the flotilla’s 58 boats have been stormed by Israeli forces in complete violation of international law,” the GSF said in a statement.
"Our boats were approached by military speedboats, self-identified as ‘Israel,’ pointing lasers and semi-automatic assault weapons, ordering participants to the front of the boats and to get on their hands and knees," the organization said.
The GSF claims that their vessels follow legal navigational rights under “Article 87 of UNCLOS and customary international law.”
The vessels are fully identifiable, sail under recognized national flags, and carry documented humanitarian cargo.
According to Khan’s spokesperson, Daniyal Abdullah, distress calls were made to the Greek Coast Guard. “As of now, we are not sure about the whereabouts of the former senator,” he told Pakistan TV Digital.
He was informed by the folitila organizers that the vessel ‘Marea,’ carrying the ex-senator, had been intercepted, but they had no information about him.
“Before the navy boarded the ships, there were multiple drone attacks, which was the last time I heard from him,” Abdullah said.
According to the spokesperson’s conversations with the organizers’ ground teams, the IDF overboarded many protestors by throwing them into the water.
“I have no information whether the former senator was also thrown into the water or not.”
The GSF also stated that the Israeli forces set one ship on fire during its raid.
Khan was also among the few Pakistanis aboard the last global samud flotilla, which attempted to break the Israeli siege of Gaza last year in October but was arrested by IDF.
He was then held captive by Israel with hundreds of other activists, including human rights activist Greta Thunberg, before being deported to the Jordanian capital of Amman.
The former senator arrived in Pakistan on Oct 10 last year after being released from Israel's illegal detention center.
Pakistan officially does not recognize the Jewish state, as Islamabad opposes Israeli illegal expansion and demands an independent state of Palestine along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
According to human rights groups, despite the 2025 ceasefire, Israel has committed over 2,400 documented violations, killing more than 700 people, while only allowing about 40% of the promised humanitarian aid trucks.
