Spain summons Israeli charge d'affaires following attack on Gaza aid flotilla

Speaking on the Spanish broadcaster RTVE, Albares said that Israeli charge d'affaires in Spain, Dana Erlich, has been summoned to convey the government's condemnation of what happened.

He noted that "the urgent matter" is that "the physical integrity and rights" of the Spanish citizens aboard the flotilla are "respected," after they were "detained" by Israel.

Albares also said that those aboard the flotilla "do not and did not represent any threat to Israel or anyone else," as their "sole objective was humanitarian," stressing that they should not be accused of "absolutely anything."

He further underscored that 65 Spanish citizens were aboard, while emphasizing that they do not yet have specific data on the number of those detained.

The Israeli naval forces attacked the international aid flotilla bound for the besieged Gaza Strip and detained 317 activists on board, organizers said on Thursday.

The activists aboard the ships attacked by Israel were of various nationalities, including Spaniards, Italians, Brazilians, Turks, Greeks, Americans, Germans, Swedes, British, and French citizens, and many others.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said through the US social media company X that the detained activists are on their way to Israel's Ashdod Port, from which they will be deported to Europe.

The official flotilla tracker showed that 21 vessels have been attacked by the Israeli forces, with 23 others en route to Gaza.