Irish President’s Sister Intercepted by Israel on Gaza Boat, Say Organizers

The sister of Ireland’s President Catherine Connolly is among eight Irish citizens intercepted by Israel on Gaza-bound aid flotilla ships, organizers said Monday. Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla on Monday after it sailed from Türkiye last week, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denouncing the mission as a “malicious scheme” intended to support Hamas. The Global Sumud Flotilla vessels are the latest in a string of attempts by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory. Around 50 ships had departed from southwestern Türkiye on Thursday. “Global Sumud Flotilla is under attack!” the group wrote on X. “The Israeli occupation has again illegally and violently intercepted our international fleet of humanitarian vessels and abducted our volunteers.” Margaret Connolly, an Irish doctor and President Connolly’s sister, was among those “illegally kidnapped” by Israel, organizers said in a statement sent to AFP. “Eight Irish people have been illegally detained in this operation,” it said. President Connolly, on a planned trip to the UK, told reporters after talks in London with King Charles III that the news was “upsetting”. “I’m very worried about her, and I’m also very concerned about her colleagues on board,” she said, adding she did not have any details. Videos posted by the organizers on social media showed Connolly and five others which appear to have been recorded in advance of their detention. In her video, Connolly said: “If you are watching this video, it means I have been kidnapped from my boat in the flotilla by the Israeli occupying forces”. “Her participation in this flotilla was her own decision and not related to President Connolly,” organizers said. Ireland has been among the most outspoken critics of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, and recognized the Palestinian state in 2024. Soon after, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ordered the closure of its Dublin embassy, blaming Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies”. Last year Saar said “Dublin has become the capital of antisemitism in the world” while blasting a Dublin City Council proposal to rename a park named after Ireland-born Chaim Herzog, Israel’s sixth president.