Foreign Ministry following up on fate of Lebanese who were on Gaza flotilla

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it is following up on the issue of “Israel’s detention of two Lebanese citizens who were aboard the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla.”

The Ministry is “carrying out the necessary contacts to know their fate and secure their release as soon as possible,” it said in a statement.

Media reports have identified the two Lebanese as Lina al-Tabbal and Mohammad al-Qaderi.

Tabbal is a French-Lebanese international law expert who hails from the northern city of Tripoli while Qaderi, a Lebanese-Brazilian, is the head of the Brazil-based Latin Palestinian Forum.

Most of those who were aboard the flotilla had thrown their cellphones into the sea, but Tabbal had said: “We are 100 miles away from Gaza and we’re expected to arrive at 5:00 am. We expect the Israeli forces to arrest us tonight and we’re preparing for the worst scenarios.”

“For Gaza, for Syria, for Lebanon … for Humanity. Because pain knows no borders .. and neither should dignity,” she had also written in an English-language post on X.

Israel said on Thursday it will deport the activists who were on the aid flotilla intercepted at sea as they headed towards Gaza, adding that none of the vessels had successfully breached its maritime blockade.

The Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels began its voyage last month, with politicians and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg heading to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.

Israel said the activists would be deported to Europe, without specifying which countries they would be sent to.