US lawmakers urge Trump administration to press Israel to free American flotilla activists

In a letter sent to Rubio, the lawmakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, said 21 US citizens “remain in Israeli detention,” including Californians David Adler, Tommy Marcus, Geraldine Ramirez and Logan Hollarsmith.

Adler, the co-general coordinator of Progressive International, joined the flotilla as part of what the lawmakers described as a “non-violent mission to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.”

“We call on you to immediately do everything in your power to ensure the release of these U.S. citizens and to ensure their fair and safe treatment,” they wrote in the letter.

“We call on you to work for the immediate and safe release, including arranging the logistics of a plane to ensure their speedy recovery, of U.S. citizens who were on the flotilla and are still being held in Israeli prisons, including California residents,” they added.

Israeli naval forces attacked and seized vessels from the flotilla in international waters beginning on Wednesday, detaining more than 470 activists from over 50 countries. The flotilla was trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

Israel has maintained the blockade of Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.

Since October 2023, Israeli military operations have killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave all but uninhabitable, with widespread starvation and the spread of disease.