The four Portuguese citizens aboard a humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza, detained by Israeli forces, are scheduled to meet with Portugal’s ambassador to Israel and the consul on Friday morning.
While the possibility was previously mentioned by both the government and the Left Bloc, it was President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who confirmed the situation on Thursday night.
All those detained—more than 400 individuals, including Mariana Mortágua, Sofia Aparício, Miguel Duarte, and Diogo Chaves—have already been transferred to a prison in the Negev desert, southern Israel. According to the flotilla’s legal team, the activists are expected to be deported from there to their home countries.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro expressed on Thursday his hope that Portuguese citizens can return home “without any incident,” suggesting that the humanitarian flotilla’s message had been conveyed.
What’s Next?
Initially, due to the Yom Kippur holiday, it was predicted that direct contact with the detained would not occur until Sunday. On Thursday, Marcelo explained that the “interval between the holiday and the religious period” would now be utilized to establish initial contact with the detainees and clarify “exactly what is happening in terms of administrative identification.”
“Either they sign a document, agreeing to leave Israeli territory, in which case Israel would cover the exit expenses as soon as possible,” Marcelo began, contrasting with “Or they choose the other way, which is to stay in Israeli territory and then start a process leading to a judge’s intervention, who will eventually decide the terms of their departure, and then the State of Israel would not cover these exits.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also commented on the operation, praising the Israeli naval forces for intercepting the flotilla, thus “repelling a delegitimization campaign” against Israel.
“Their important action prevented dozens of ships from entering the war zone and repelled a delegitimization campaign against Israel,” he stated.
The Operation and Netanyahu’s Justification (Following Over 400 Detentions)
More than 400 people were detained after the interception of dozens of boats from the flotilla. “During a roughly 12-hour operation, the Israeli navy managed to prevent a large-scale incursion attempt by hundreds of people aboard 41 ships that had declared their intention to breach the legal maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip,” explained an Israeli forces official.
Besides the four Portuguese, 30 Spaniards, 22 Italians, 21 Turks, 12 Malaysians, 11 Tunisians, 11 Brazilians, and 10 French citizens were also detained, along with nationals from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, and Colombia, among others.
The ‘Surprise,’ Flotilla Praise, and Left Criticism
Portugal was surprised by the presence of a fourth Portuguese national on the flotilla, who had not informed the government of his participation. Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Rangel explained that this individual, Diogo Chaves, did not board in Barcelona, where the flotilla departed.
“I am not an experienced activist. I am a sailor, a student, someone who simply could not remain silent in the face of so much suffering that could have been avoided,” Diogo Chaves stated in a video.
Diogo Chaves, the fourth Portuguese aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces en route to Gaza, is a student who joined the humanitarian initiative, refusing to remain “indifferent” to “so much suffering.”
Lusa | 18:10 – 02/10/2025
On Thursday, Huthi leader Abdelmalek al-Huthi celebrated the “persistent” Gaza flotilla, stating that “these activists have managed to expose the Israeli enemy and draw the world’s attention to the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Abdelmalek al-Huthi is under United Nations sanctions, and the fundamentalist Huthi movement (Ansar Allah, “Supporters of God”) has been designated as a terrorist group by the United States, among other countries. In support of Hamas, the Huthis have launched attacks on international ships in the Red Sea, also directly targeting Israeli territory.
Following a “exchange” of accusations between the Left Bloc and the government concerning an audience request, several parties continued to criticize how the situation was managed, while others defended that Israel had ensured the “safety” of the Portuguese.
Left Bloc leader Jorge Costa told Lusa that “[other countries] called in Israeli ambassadors from their countries for consultations, demanding the release of their nationals who were illegally detained, and the Portuguese government did nothing.”
At a protest rally of more than a thousand people in Lisbon, the Left Bloc considered the Executive’s response “negligent,” implying a lack of care, attention, or interest in the detained Portuguese on the flotilla.
Presidential candidate and former Left Bloc coordinator, Catarina Martins, also present at the protest, said, “Israel may have stopped the flotilla, but it did not stop the sea of people here today.”
Paula Santos, a deputy from the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), told Lusa that the Portuguese government must “condemn the genocide in Gaza” and should not be complicit in the Palestinian conflict.
Meanwhile, MEP Sebastião Bugalho noted that “it did not occur to anyone” that Israel might not guarantee the “safety and good treatment” of Portuguese citizens aboard flotilla boats.
MEP Sebastião Bugalho stated today that “it did not occur to anyone” that Israel might not ensure the “safety and good treatment” of Portuguese citizens aboard flotilla boats.
Lusa | 21:39 – 02/10/2025
“I will not comment on Mariana Mortágua’s initiative, but I can assure you that from the President to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the entire Government of Portugal, it was never considered that Israel would not ensure the safety and proper treatment of any Portuguese citizen aboard any vessel interacting with Israeli authorities. I am sure that this is what happened,” the MEP told Lusa.
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