Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has confirmed that Saad Edhi and other humanitarian workers who were illegally detained by Israeli security forces after the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla have been released.
The aid workers were intercepted on Monday while carrying food and medicine destined for Gaza. Dar announced via a social media post on X that the volunteers had safely arrived in Istanbul.
He extended gratitude to the Turkish government for facilitating their return, while condemning the illegal detention and reiterating Pakistan’s continued support for Palestinians.
The incident marks the second time in less than a month that Pakistani volunteers have been illegally held. Last month, former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was illegally detained under similar circumstances after Israeli forces intercepted vessels carrying humanitarian workers.
Organisers stated that the Global Sumud Flotilla had departed from southern Turkiye earlier in the week, aiming to break the blockade on Gaza to deliver assistance. Aid groups state that supplies remain short despite a US-brokered ceasefire in place since October 2025.
Prior to the release, Edhi Foundation Chairman Faisal Edhi shared details of his last communication with his son Saad during a television programme.
“He told his mother that this is my last call, Israeli forces have abducted us, and after this I will not be able to contact you again,” Faisal Edhi stated.
The foundation chief maintained that those on board were volunteers and that all supplies had been collected through public donations.
He highlighted that medical teams inside Gaza are currently operating under extreme constraints, reporting that surgeries are being conducted without anaesthesia. Commenting on the interception, he alleged that women and youth faced violence during the standoff, criticizing what he termed a long-standing fascist attitude by the intercepting forces.
The administrative process for the repatriation involved regional coordination, with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan confirming that state institutions worked to secure the safe return of their nationals and third-country activists.
According to the Israeli rights group Adalah, an estimated 430 activists were released from a prison in southern Israel to be deported via Ramon airport near Eilat.
Spanish officials also confirmed that 44 of their citizens were scheduled for departure as part of the mass release.
The handling of the activists by authorities under the direction of Israel’s far-right police minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, drew international outcry and a subsequent rebuke from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
