Gaza flotilla: Canada demands Israel release 6 Canadians, including Montreal doctor

Montreal epidemiologist Nimâ Machouf (far left) on board the Conscience before it was intercepted by Israeli forces. (Source: globalsumudflotilla.org)

The Canadian government has called on Israel for the “swift release” of six Canadians who have been detained after they attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“Canada urges Israel to ensure the safety of our citizens,” Global Affairs Canada said Wednesday in a statement on social media, adding that consular officials have communicated with Israeli authorities and offered assistance to those who were detained.

Nimâ Machouf, an epidemiologist from Montreal, is among the six Canadians on board the Conscience, which was intercepted by Israeli forces early Wednesday morning about 120 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza.

Machouf has joined hundreds of other activists in recent days trying to deliver much-needed food and medicine by sea to Palestinians in Gaza with the Global Sumud Flotilla.

“We are the six Canadian citizens aboard the Conscience. If you are seeing this video, we’ve been attacked at sea and abducted by the Israeli forces or forces of another country complicit in their genocide of the Palestinian people,” a Canadian woman says in a video shared on the Global Sumud Flotilla’s X account Wednesday.

‘I’m seriously worried’ about my wife: Amir Khadir

Machouf’s husband, Amir Khadir, a physician and former MNA at Quebec’s National Assembly and co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire from 2008 to 2012, said he lost contact with his wife since late Tuesday evening and is waiting for news about her status.

“My wife and I are involved in many activism in sometimes very difficult situations since 40 years, but it’s really the first time I’m seriously worried,” he said in an interview.

• READ MORE: Montreal doctor part of flotilla delivering aid to Gaza undeterred by Israeli interceptions

He said Israeli authorities unlawfully detained his wife and the others on board the boat and is also demanding their immediate release.

“Israel has no jurisdiction, but they have abducted, seized the boats and put in custody, without any charge, pacific humanitarian activists that were trying to just break the siege of Gaza, which is ongoing since more than 17 years,” Khadir said.

While he’s worried about her safety, he said he wants to respect the will of the activists on the Conscience by focusing the attention on the Palestinians suffering from Israeli bombardment, rather than on the activists on the flotilla.

“Because in comparison, it just means nothing, what happened to all these people, including my wife,” he said, adding that beyond demanding the Canadians’ release, the Canadian government should do more to ensure it is not complicit in any arms exports being sent to Israel to be used on Palestinians.

The Gaza health ministry estimates more than 66,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, triggered by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 Israelis. More than 200 were also taken hostage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the flotilla, calling it a publicity stunt — a charge that Khadir and other activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who was released from Israeli custody, have rejected.

“Benjamin Netanyahu has proven on and on that he’s lying, that he’s just gaslighting anyone criticizing Israel or willing to interfere with his willingness to impose his will, continue the colonization, the expansion, the wars … he is a war criminal, according to the International [Criminal Court],” Khadir said.

Israel has denied the allegation of war crimes committed by the Netanyahu government in Gaza. Israel has also denied the accusation of genocide in Gaza, a conclusion by a growing number of experts, including those at the United Nations.

Last week, Machouf told CTV News in an interview that she was determined to stay on course and reach Gaza by boat with other volunteers to try to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and bring much-needed aid to Palestinians, even though several other boats had already been intercepted.

“So we, as humans, who are in solidarity with them, and we are so angry about what Israel [does], we are forced to put our lives in danger to try to go and break the siege,” Machouf said at the time.

A spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla told CTV News that the six Canadians on the Conscience were expected to be brought to the port city of Ashdod.