Saad Edhi, son of prominent social worker Faisal Edhi, was reportedly detained by Israeli forces on Monday along with other members of the Global Sumud Flotilla after at least 10 boats were intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean.
The organisers of the flotilla said Israeli forces had intercepted 10 of their boats and that contact had been lost with a total 23 vessels in the eastern Mediterranean.
Earlier on Monday, Israel’s foreign ministry posted on X that it “will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza”.
In a video posted on Edhi’s official Facebook handle, Faisal said that at around 1pm today, “the Gaza aid flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces near Cyprus and its members have been arrested, including Saad Edhi”.
He also appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take action following his son’s detention by Israeli forces.
“They were arrested in international waters and Israeli forces have no right to do so. Israel has arrested them illegally and their whereabouts are unknown,” he said.
He said that Saad, a Pakistani citizen, was part of the Gaza Sumud Flotilla and was going to help war-affected people in Gaza. He added that around 500 people from different countries were also part of it. “They were bringing food and medicines for the people of Gaza.”
“Now they have been arrested, we don’t know anything about their whereabouts,” he said, adding that their mobile phones had also been snatched.
“I appeal to Pakistan’s foreign ministry to take action, as a Pakistani citizen has been arrested by Israeli forces,” Faisal said in the video message.
He also appealed to the ministry to confer with the United Nations and the international community against this “illegal and inhuman conduct by Israeli forces” and to stop the “genocide in Gaza.”
Earlier today, his son also issued a video statement from the Gaza Sumud Flotilla.
“I am Saad Edhi, a Pakistani citizen. If you are watching this video, it means that I have been intercepted or am being intercepted,” he said.
He described it as a “non-violent humanitarian aid mission” for Gaza.
“We are bringing aid to Gaza peacefully. There has been a genocide in Gaza for the past eight decades. That’s why we want to end this illegal blockade and siege,” he said.
He further said: “We are going to Gaza, and if we are arrested by Israeli Occupation Forces or the Israeli Defence Forces, it is the responsibility of the Pakistani government to coordinate and make efforts to ensure my release.”
Ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla had set sail for a third time on Thursday from southern Turkey, after earlier attempts to deliver aid to Gaza were intercepted by Israel in international waters.
Live video showed military vessels approaching the vessels on Monday.
“Military vessels are currently intercepting our fleet and (Israeli) forces are boarding the first of our boats in broad daylight,” the Global Sumud Flotilla initially said on X.
“We demand safe passage for our legal, non-violent humanitarian mission.”
The group said there were two dozen Turks among those on the intercepted vessels, some 250 nautical miles (463 km) from Gaza. It said there were 426 people taking part in the flotilla from 39 countries.
Israel’s foreign ministry also called on “all participants in this provocation to change course and turn back immediately”.
The previous flotilla departed from Spain on April 12. But Israeli forces intercepted vessels in that group, taking more than 100 pro-Palestinian activists to Crete and detaining two others in Israel.
Last October, Israel’s military halted another flotilla assembled by the same organisation, arresting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and more than 450 participants.
Palestinians and international aid bodies, along with Turkey and a number of other countries, say supplies reaching Gaza are still insufficient, despite a ceasefire reached in October that included guarantees of increased aid.
Most of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have been displaced, many now living in bombed-out homes and makeshift tents pitched on open ground, roadsides, or atop the ruins of destroyed buildings.
Israel, which controls all access to the Gaza Strip, denies withholding supplies for its residents. Its foreign ministry said more than 1.58 million tons of humanitarian aid and thousands of tons of medical supplies have entered Gaza since October 2025.
