Israeli Navy Boards GSF Ships "Alma" And "Sirius"

SEPANG, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Israeli navy has boarded two of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) ships - Alma and Sirius - at 9.44 pm Gaza time (2.44 am Malaysian time) while they were sailing through the high-risk Red Zone R3 in the Mediterranean Sea.

Alma was carrying Malaysian humanitarian delegates Musa Nuwayri, Iylia Balqis, and Sul Aidil, while Sirius had onboard Haikal Abdullah, Muaz Zainal, Zulfadhli, and Rusydi.

The Sumud Nusantara Command Centre (SNCC) reported that the Zionist interception of Alma was visually confirmed from the Morgana, while for the Sirius, a Mayday signal and visual confirmation were received from the Grande Blue. However, no SOS signal was received from either boat.

Earlier, NSCC also reported that communication had been lost with nine Malaysians across four ships in the flotilla. Apart from those on Alma and Sirius, two other delegates - singer Zizi Kirana (aboard Huga) and actress Ardell Aryana (aboard Mikeno) - were also unreachable.

It is believed that the Israeli Navy had deployed radar jamming equipment to block communications from the flotilla.

As of 2.45 am Malaysian time, SNCC's tracking system indicated the flotilla was approximately 66.6 nautical miles from Gaza's coastline.

The Red Zone R3 area is the same region where the Israeli Navy seized the Handala in international waters on July 27, detaining 21 activists from multiple countries.

This zone also bears historical weight as it was where the Mavi Marmara,  which was part of a humanitarian flotilla to Gaza, was violently raided by Israeli forces on May 31, 2010, resulting in multiple fatalities.

-- BERNAMA