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human rights defenders, and crew members aboard the freedom flotilla fleet, was forcibly taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod before being transferred to Ketziot Prison, located in the Negev desert.

The detainees informed Adalah’s legal team that they had been subjected to various forms of violence since the seizure of the ships by Israeli forces, according to the Drik statement.

Stating that Palestinians face similar and often more severe forms of violence on a daily basis, Drik noted that approximately 10,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel in Ketziot Prison.

Expressing solidarity with all inmates, Drik demanded the immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners and the unconditional release of all detained Freedom Flotilla activists.

The statement concluded with the declaration, “Palestine will be free.”

As part of the FFC, Shahidul’s ship, the Conscience, along with eight other smaller vessels, was sailing toward war-ravaged Gaza to challenge Israel’s blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

This was the second interception, after Israel last week stopped about 40 vessels and detained more than 450 activists in an aid convoy, the Global Sumud Flotilla, that was also attempting to deliver supplies to Gaza.

According to the FFC, an international network of pro-Palestinian activist groups, all nine boats in the Thousand Madleens to Gaza campaign -- Abd Elkarim Eid, Alaa Al-Najjar, Anas Al-Sharif, Gaza Sunbird, Leïla Khaled, Milad, Soul of My Soul, Umm Saad and Conscience -- were intercepted.

It said Israeli forces “hijacked the humanitarian fleet,” adding that the ships were “illegally intercepted”, and that a total of 150 unarmed participants, including humanitarians, doctors and journalists from across the world, have been “taken against their will and are being held in unknown conditions”.

“The Israeli military has no legal jurisdiction over international waters,” it said. “Our flotilla poses no harm.”

The ships carried aid worth more than $110,000 in medicines, respiratory equipment and nutritional supplies intended for Gaza’s starving hospitals, it added on its Instagram account.