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UPDATE

Six South Africans now in Israeli custody after being abducted off humanitarian flotilla

Activist Carrie Shelver has joined South Africans Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, Zukiswa Wanner, Reaaz Moolla, Zaheera Soomar and Dr Fatima Hendricks under Israeli detention.
Six South Africans now in Israeli custody after being abducted off humanitarian flotilla A video grab from a livestream broadcast on 1 October 2025 by the Global Sumud Flotilla. Israel’s foreign ministry said Israel had halted vessels from the flotilla bound for Gaza. (Photo: Global Sumud Flotilla / AFP)
Mel Frykberg
By Mel Frykberg
3 Oct 2025
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25

The number of South Africans abducted by Israeli forces, as they sailed on an international flotilla to break Israel’s crippling siege on Gaza, has risen to six. Late on Thursday, 2 October 2025, it was confirmed that activist Carrie Shelver from the Eastern Cape and Johannesburg and currently living in Switzerland, was also aboard one of the Flotilla boats and taken into Israeli detention.

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian human rights lawyer, said Israel’s flotilla interception also amounted to a clear violation of international law.

“It’s important to keep in mind that all of these ships were in international waters,” she said.

Read more: Flotilla SOS — ‘if you are reading this, we have been illegally seized by the Israeli military’

A number of foreign governments have lashed out at Israel’s detention of the activists and called in Israeli diplomats to express their outrage and demand explanations.

More protests and strikes in international capitals, including South Africa, were expected on Friday.

People shout 'general strike, let's block everything' as they take part in a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people and the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) in Rome, Italy, 01 October 2025. The Global Sumud Flotilla, an international maritime initiative that began sailing in August 2025 en route to the Gaza Strip, aims to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. (Photo: EPA / ALESSANDRO DI MEO)
People shout 'general strike, let's block everything' as they take part in a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people and the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) in Rome, Italy, 01 October 2025. (Photo: EPA / ALESSANDRO DI MEO)

Israel’s security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has eight convictions for racism and for supporting the terrorist organisation Kach, said that those arrested would be treated as “terrorists”.

Palestinian security prisoners’ conditions under Ben-Gvir’s ministry are on record for harsh and inhumane conditions.

The activists are reportedly being held in Ketziot prison in the Negev.

Israeli rights group Adala warned that the flotilla detainees were being denied due process.

Read more: Ramaphosa demands Israel free South African activists seized on Gaza flotilla

Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, was arrested by Israeli special forces after the boat he was on, part of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla (GSF) humanitarian fleet trying to break Israel’s crippling siege on Gaza, was intercepted by the Israeli navy overnight Wednesday/Thursday.

Four other South Africans, Zukiswa Wanner, Reaaz Moolla , Zaheera Soomar and Dr Fatima Hendricks were also abducted off their boats. DM

Comments (9)

Julian Chandler Oct 3, 2025, 01:20 PM

And yet, not a word is said about the US bombing private vessels in international waters.

Rama Chandra Oct 5, 2025, 10:33 AM

That is indeed also very concerning... not as concering as a live Western-backed genocide, but it is further evidence of the decline of the rule of law in the Western powers, and particularly the decline of international law. Similarly Sudan, which is now every bit as bad as Gaza, is deserving of coverage, and it is backed by Western proxies KSA and UAE, dancing a macabre dance of death. The absence of direct Western backing makes it less newsworthy though.

Rod MacLeod Oct 6, 2025, 12:03 AM

You say Sudan is every bit as bad as Gaza? Is that not downplaying the more than half a million people killed in Sudan? Would you say Gaza then is just like Syria, Lebanon and Yemen? And if it's "just like them", how come are there no Greta Thunberg flotillas headed for e.g. Yemen?

Theo Butler Oct 3, 2025, 03:00 PM

If you participate in a publicity stunt, then expect to get "hurt". Why do we not see or read about these people in the Sudan, Myanmar or Jemen, just to name other areas where human rights are violated.

John P Oct 3, 2025, 06:03 PM

whatabout whatabout. Would it not be better if you were against all of these human rights violations instead of attempt to deflect attention from one to another?

Rod MacLeod Oct 3, 2025, 11:49 PM

Whataboutism is the refuge of the intellectually challenged who have no answer to the proposition.

Dietmar Horn Oct 4, 2025, 09:59 AM

Exactly, one could also say that whatsaboutism is an argument of helplessness in a dialectical debate, when one opponent reaches an argumentative deadlock and cannot resolve their contradictions. This is particularly common in the defense of left-wing intellectual content.

Dominic Rooney Oct 3, 2025, 03:04 PM

Just another publicity-seeking stunt.

Rod MacLeod Oct 3, 2025, 03:33 PM

They weren't abducted, they were areested in the Israeli territorial waters which they entered without the requisite travel documentation. Standard practice.

Richard Bryant Oct 3, 2025, 04:38 PM

They were in Palestinian territorial waters!

Alan Salmon Oct 4, 2025, 03:39 PM

Seeing as there is no state of Palestine as yet, I suspect you are incorrect.

John P Oct 4, 2025, 04:44 PM

and therein lies the problem, why is there no Palestinian state as yet?

John P Oct 3, 2025, 06:00 PM

They were boarded by pirates in international waters and abducted

Rod MacLeod Oct 3, 2025, 03:51 PM

Have you got something to say on the killings of Jewish worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester yesterday by "Jihadi Al-Shami"? Or is this flotilla of tired old formerly-famous glitterati your sole pre-occupation?

kanu sukha Oct 4, 2025, 12:18 PM

Have you not developed a 'pre-occupation' with defending (no matter how spurious or convoluted the basis) those colonialists and imperialists wanting to assert their 'might' over occupied people ? Killing of all kind is objectionable ! I guess the approx 60/70 thousand Palestinians over the past 2 yrs don't count. After all they are just "Human Animals".

John P Oct 4, 2025, 07:07 PM

The killings were indeed terrible as was the fact that one seems to have been an accidental police shooting. This however does not change the horror that is Gaza.

toAstY bo0rGir Oct 6, 2025, 11:15 AM

The issue at hand is genocide, remember?

David Silman Oct 3, 2025, 05:03 PM

What law is being broken when dozens of vessels announce their intention to unlawfully enter the territory of a sovereign country? Interdicting these vessels before they enter territorial waters is both legal and prudent. Given the viciousness of anti-Israel protesters, the Israeli State would be negligent if they permitted these flotillerite flotsam to make landfall in or near Israeli areas of jurisdiction. If these loons tried the same game on the Houthies who ARE starving their own people...

kanu sukha Oct 4, 2025, 12:25 PM

A "sovereign country " ? You mean the one 'gifted' to the world by the arch colonialist and imperialist British ? And the promise of a 'Palestinian' state by the same then .. still awaiting after 80 years ?

Rod MacLeod Oct 6, 2025, 12:10 AM

It's only "awaiting" because every proposal has been rejected out of hand by the Philistines. BTW, that's one of the names by which the Canaanites were known, you know, the original "Palestinians".

Alan Salmon Oct 4, 2025, 03:43 PM

A childish stunt - what did they expect. And let's face it - who would you rather took you into custody - Israel or Hamas ? I think we all know the answer as to which you are most likely to survive.

John P Oct 4, 2025, 04:45 PM

A lot of Palestinians would not agree with you there.

Rama Chandra Oct 5, 2025, 10:27 AM

If opposing genocide is a "childish stunt", as some suggest, then it is clear there is something very wrong with people who don't do "childish stunts". I absolutely applaud people who are not afraid to show their respect for universal human rights and human dignity, yes, even for Palestinian Arabs, and those who are afraid, but do it anyway.

Rod MacLeod Oct 6, 2025, 12:15 AM

When you repeat something often enough, a cognitive phenomenon called the “illusory truth effect” causes people to believe it is true, even if it’s false. This is because repetition makes a lie more familiar and easier to process, leading to an increased sense of familiarity that is often mistaken for truth. This effect is a well-documented principle in psychology and propaganda, famously associated with Nazi propaganda minister Goebbels. Calling it genocide does not make it so.

Rod MacLeod Oct 6, 2025, 12:00 AM

Has any report been published on the amount of relief aid carried on this flotilla? As a sailor of past experience, once a yacht like these has been provisioned for the crew, there is precious little space for anything else - other than a few tokes tucked into the bilges in waterproof bags.