AFP, Athens

Organisers of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla yesterday said Israel’s army had “kidnapped” 211 activists, including a Paris city councillor, in a raid in international waters off Greece.

Helene Coron, a spokeswoman for the Global Sumud France, told an online news conference that the operation had taken place near the Greek island of Crete, at an “unprecedented” distance from the Gaza coast.

Yasmine Scola, an activist on board the flotilla, said her colleagues had been “kidnapped” by Israel.

Israel’s foreign ministry had earlier put the number of those detained at 175.

Coron said those intercepted included Paris Communist local councillor Raphaelle Primet and another 10 French nationals.

“We don’t have the information for the other nationalities, but the boats were mixed in terms of nationality, so there were crew members from all 48 delegations,” she said.

Rome, in a government statement, called for the immediate release of “all the unlawfully detained Italians”.

The organisers of the latest flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists seeking to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza announced early yesterday that their boats had been surrounded by Israeli military ships while off the coast of Crete.