Daughter of detained Gaza flotilla member ‘has cried all day”

The daughter of a man who was on board a boat intercepted by Israeli forces said she had been “crying from morning til night” since he was detained.

Mohammed Mokuzzal Ali, from Swindon, was part of a flotilla delivering food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip when it was stopped just outside of Egyptian waters in the early hours of Wednesday morning. His daughter, Aleyah Knight, has not heard from him since.

According to human rights organisation Adalah, the flotilla passengers were taken to Ktzi’ot Prison in Israel, which they said was “notorious for harsh and abusive conditions”.

The Israeli government had issued a warning that people who entered its waters would be detained.

The Foreign Office said it was supporting the families of those in detention.

The aid teams were warned and trained for the possibility that they might be intercepted while travelling to Gaza, Mrs Knight said.

“My dad was ready to risk anything and go through anything,” she added.

The fleet, made up of nine vessels and 150 people from a range of countries, was being jointly run by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza.

The organisers initially said three of its boats had been stopped by Israeli forces 120 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, but within hours, a live tracker showed that all nine boats had been stopped.

Mrs Knight said the last thing she saw on the boat camera was an Israeli soldier smashing the lens with a rifle.

“We saw him hitting it multiple times and then the feed was cut,” she said.

The last known location of the boat Mr Ali was on was near Port Said in Egypt.

Mrs Knight said she still has not heard anything from her father.

“I didn’t sleep from all of last night. I was just waiting to hear something, knowing what might happen and just crying from morning til night.

“I felt like I couldn’t breathe not knowing if he was okay,” she said.

Israel has maintained a naval blockade off the coast of Gaza since 2007, when Hamas took control of the Strip, and described attempts to breach the blockade as “futile”.

Lawyers that work for the Thousand Madleens to Gaza group said they had visited some of the passengers in prison.

Some of those detained claimed they were in an “abusive situation” where they were forced to kneel for hours with their hands tied behind their backs with their heads down, while having their hair pulled and being physically assaulted.

Mrs Knight said some of them allegedly had to “repeat degrading comments” too.

Will Stone, the Labour MP for Swindon North, said he was working “closely and urgently” with the Foreign Office and Minister Falconer to help Mr Ali.

He added that he had been in “regular contact” with Mr Ali’s family and their representatives at the Public Interest Law Centre.

“While I recognise the complexity of the circumstances, I am deeply concerned by reports of the interception of a peaceful flotilla in international waters and believe that such actions raise serious questions under international law.

“Please be assured that I am doing everything within my capacity to support him and to secure his safe return home,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: “We are supporting the families of a number of British nationals who have been detained in Israel from and are in touch with the local authorities.”

Last week, Israel’s military stopped a 42-boat aid convoy with 479 pro-Palestinian activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Almost all of them have been deported, with six reportedly still in detention.