IN BRIEF
- DFAT is urgently seeking information on 11 Australian activists detained by Israel.
- Flotilla organisers say nearly 400 people have been detained.
The Australian government is urgently seeking information on the whereabouts and condition of seven Australian activists allegedly detained by Israel after boats in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla were intercepted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in international waters overnight.
The location and condition of the Australians remains unknown, and the flotilla's media delegate confirmed there had been no contact with the activists since the delegation was intercepted.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was urgently seeking confirmation of the welfare of Australians it believed to be detained.
"We will continue to make clear our expectation that any detainees receive humane treatment in line with international norms," a DFAT spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Flotilla organisers identified the Australian activists as Anny Mokotow, Dr Bianca Webb-Pullman, Neve O'Connor, Violet Coco, Gemma O'Toole, Sam Woripa Watson, Zack Schofield, Helen O'Sullivan, Juliet Lamont, Isla Lamont and Surya McEwan.
The Israeli foreign ministry said on X, that activists from the "provocation flotilla" had been transferred to Israeli vessels and claimed that no aid had been found on their boats.
Parents share 'grave fears' for activists
The missing Australians' parents and loved ones called for immediate government action at a conference at the State Library Victoria on Tuesday.
Julie Webb-Pullman, the mother of general practitioner Dr Bianca Webb-Pullman, said she hadn't heard from her daughter since 8.09pm on Monday, as the flotilla was intercepted.
"Serial kidnappers have done it again, abducted my daughter in international waters while she was delivering humanitarian aid," she told reporters.
"Yet our pathetic prime minister cannot even rustle up a condemnation, let alone demand accountability."
Susie O'Toole said she hadn't had any direct contact with her 23-year-old daughter, Gemma, and assumed the cohort was on a prison cargo ship bound for Ashdod prison in Israel.
"Most probably they've been left out in the sun like most people previously have been, held in stress positions, not given water, not given food," she said.
"We are terrified about Gemma's well-being, we demand the Australian government do everything they can to get her home safely."
Neve O'Connor's father said: "It was made clear to the Sumud participants that the IDF could not guarantee the safety of any of the prisoners on the prison ship, and that those that had been kidnapped the first time would get special treatment."
"Neve was one of those people, so we have grave concerns for Neve, and all the Global participants."
Livestream footage published online by the Global Sumud Flotilla appears to show the moment boats were boarded by military personnel. Organisers say there were more than 50 ships in the flotilla, and dozens were intercepted on Monday night.
Julie Lamont, a documentary filmmaker, captured the moment her boat was intercepted in a video distributed online by Flotilla organisers.
"It's all on now," Lamont said in the video.
"You never know the minute when the Israelis decide that 'yeah, let's f--k over some ordinary people', 500 of them, who have got a whole load of baby food in boats trying to break their illegal siege in international waters."
Lamont has been a returning activist on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and was joined by her two daughters on the current delegation.
SBS News has contacted the IDF for comment.
For four of the eleven missing activists, it's the second detainment by Israeli military forces in a matter of weeks.
In late April, six Australian activists were among more than 100 people detained while trying to break a long-running Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip enclave.
The flotilla participants were released on Crete after being intercepted off the coast of the Greek island by the IDF.
The three Australians said they were subjected to violence and mistreated while on board the Israeli vessel.
Israeli foreign affairs minister Gideon Sa'ar confirmed the vessels had been intercepted but insisted participants were unharmed.
"All participants in the provocative flotilla who were taken off the vessels were taken off unharmed," he said on X.
All but one ship detained
Flotilla organisers said that so far, Israel had boarded over 38 boats, kidnapping an estimated 400 people from almost 50 countries, before sinking or destroying many of the boats, which carried a combined hundreds of tonnes of aid.
Tracking data for the Freedom Flotilla shows all but one boat had been intercepted overnight, off the coast of Crete.
Greg Barns SC and Bernadette Zaydan, lawyers supporting some of the Australians involved in the flotilla, said the Global Sumud Flotilla's safe passage was lawful under international humanitarian law.
"Israel has demonstrated a documented pattern of harm against civilian humanitarian workers," they said in a statement.
"It is necessary to highlight that Australia is a party to all core international human rights treaties, and accordingly carries binding obligations under international law."
DFAT said it understood Australians' desire to respond to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, but encouraged the use of established channels.
"We continue to urge Australians not to join others seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade as they will be putting themselves and others at risk of injury, death, arrest or deportation," a spokesperson said.
A DFAT spokesperson said Australia has been part of the international call on Israel to comply with the binding orders of the International Court of Justice, and would enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance at scale.
Israel controls access to the Gaza Strip and denies withholding supplies for its two million residents, with Israel's main aid coordination agency regularly pointing to increased access via authorised pathways into the enclave since last October's ceasefire.
However, numerous Palestinian and international aid bodies — including Doctors Without Borders and the Red Crescent Society — say humanitarian supplies to the territory remain insufficient.
The Israeli foreign minister has denied any aid shortages in Gaza, and says no aid was found on the intercepted vessels.
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