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Dr Margaret Connolly, the sister of Irish President Catherine Connolly, is amongst at the least six Irish residents aboard an aid flotilla which have been detained by Israel.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said that 10 boats in a 60-vessel flotilla were intercepted in international waters and boarded by Israeli forces on Monday morning.
Organisers said the interception happened roughly 70 nautical miles off Cyprus, with at the least six of 15 Irish participants amongst those detained.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said it has lost contact with the intercepted boats.
President Connolly has said the incident is ‘quite upsetting’, and while very pleased with her sister, she is ‘very fearful about her’.
The flotilla has posted videos from Dr Connolly and five others, which appear to have been recorded upfront of their detention.
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In her video, Dr Connolly said: ‘In the event you are watching this video, it means I even have been kidnapped from my boat within the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces, and I’m now being held illegally in an Israeli prison.’
She added: ‘That is the most important one to this point, and now we sail for Gaza to open a humanitarian pathway to bring much-needed aid and medical supplies to the people of Gaza.
‘I feel utterly compelled – as a mother, a physician, and as a human being – to assist in this flotilla. I want to appeal to the Irish government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill without fail.
‘The explanation for Palestine is the moral compass of our time, it’s what makes us human. Their humanity is our humanity.’
Karen Moynihan, Irish lead for the Global Sumud Flotilla, told the Press Association that six Irish residents had been ‘kidnapped’.
She added: ’15 Irish people – together with tons of of other people – completely legally sailing on a humanitarian mission, have been intercepted and abused again by Israel.
‘Currently, over the past seven months, 33 Irish residents have been kidnapped by Israel, and our Government is considering whether or not they’re even going to sanction Israel – it is totally horrific, and the Government must be called out fully on its complicity in genocide, and there is no such thing as a other solution to put it.’
A spokesperson for the flotilla said there is no such thing as a legal basis for the arrest of participants attempting to deliver aid.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said officials ‘are actively monitoring the situation regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla’ and are engaging with the relevant authorities.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, on X, described the flotilla as a ‘provocation and a seek for publicity’, because it claimed there was no aid on board.
They went on guilty Hamas: ‘The aim of this provocation is to serve Hamas, to divert attention from Hamas’s refusal to disarm, and to obstruct progress on President Trump’s peace plan.’
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