SEPANG, Oct 12 — Nine Malaysian activists who joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza (FFC x TMTG) mission have safely returned home this afternoon.
They departed Istanbul aboard Turkish Airlines flight TK60 at 1.40am on Sunday and arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here at 4.01pm.
Their return was greeted by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Zulkifli Hasan, family members, and supporters.
The FFC x TMTG humanitarian mission involved some 150 activists from 25 countries aboard nine vessels, including the Conscience and Umm Saad, which were intercepted by Zionist forces less than 120 nautical miles from Gaza last Wednesday.
The vessels were then towed to Ashdod Port where the activists were later transferred to Ketziot Prison in Negev, Israel.
Eight Malaysians were on board the Conscience, namely Malaysian delegation head Prof Emeritus Dr Mohd Alauddin Mohd Ali, Dr Fauziah Mohd Hassan, Dr Hafiz Sulaiman, Dr Ili Syakira Mohd Suhaimi, Prof Dr Mohd Afandi Salleh, Dr Noorhasyimah Ismail, Norsham Abu Bakar and Astro Awani journalist Syafik Shukri Abdul Jalil.
Another medical doctor, Dr Maziah Muhammad, was on board the Umm Saad.
On October 8, the FFC mission to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces at 10.50am Malaysian time, prompting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to strongly condemn the provocative act and violation of international law by the Israeli Zionist military.
Anwar said the act of detaining ships carrying aid for the people of Gaza was inhumane and contravened the fundamental principles of human rights and universal human dignity.
On the same day, the Foreign Ministry contacted Turkiye and United States Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau to expedite the release of the nine Malaysian activists detained by the Israeli forces.
On October 10, the nine activists were released and subsequently flown out of Israel aboard Turkish Airlines flight TK6921, arriving in Istanbul at 2.30pm local time (7.30 pm Malaysian time).
Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE) chief executive officer Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar was earlier reported as saying that Anwar had contacted Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to secure the Malaysians’ release.
