By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge
Item 1 of 2 Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest to condemn the Israeli forces’, after Israel intercepted some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, in Geneva, Switzerland, October 2, 2025. The banner reads : Solidarity with attacked flotilla and massacred Gaza. REUTERS/Olivia Le Poidevin
[1/2] Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest to condemn the Israeli forces’, after Israel intercepted some of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla aiming to reach Gaza and break Israel’s naval blockade, in Geneva, Switzerland, October 2, 2025. The banner reads : Solidarity with attacked flotilla and… Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab Read more
GENEVA, Oct 3 (Reuters) – Switzerland will file a diplomatic protest to Israel after Israeli security forces cut short a visit by Swiss diplomats to imprisoned detainees from the Gaza aid flotilla, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Friday.
“Due to various incidents, the Israeli security authorities interrupted the visit, preventing the Swiss embassy representatives from talking at length with the group of Swiss nationals,” the ministry said in a statement.
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nineteen Swiss nationals were aboard boats in the flotilla of dozens of vessels that tried to deliver aid to Israeli-blockaded Gaza. They were taken into custody on Thursday by Israeli forces who intercepted the flotilla at sea, well off Gaza’s coast, and eventually taken to Ketziot prison, according to the Waves of Freedom flotilla group.
Hundreds of other activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg were also detained in what was the latest attempt by activists to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, where it has been waging war since Hamas’ October 2023 attack.
The Swiss foreign ministry said it would demand from Israel – with which it has had friendly bilateral ties – immediate and unhindered access to the detained Swiss nationals to ascertain their state of health and conditions of detention.
Representatives from the Swiss teams visited the Ketziot prison for eight hours, the ministry said, adding that they planned to return on Sunday.
The Israeli military on Friday intercepted the last boat in the flotilla attempting to reach the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials have repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt. Its foreign ministry said the flotilla was previously warned that it was approaching an active combat zone and violating a “lawful naval blockade”, and asked organisers to change course.
In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said Israeli naval forces had “illegally intercepted all 42 of our vessels – each carrying humanitarian aid, volunteers, and the determination to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza”.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab
Suggested Topics:
Emma Farge reports on the U.N. beat and Swiss news from Geneva since 2019. She has produced a string of exclusives on diplomacy, the environment and global trade and covered Switzerland’s first war crimes trial. Her Reuters career started in 2009 covering oil swaps from London and she has since written about the West African Ebola outbreak, embedded with U.N. troops in north Mali and was the first reporter to enter deposed Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh’s estate. She co-authored a winning story for the Elizabeth Neuffer Memorial Prize on Russia’s diplomatic isolation in 2022 and was also part of a team of journalists nominated in 2012 as Pulitzer finalists in the international reporting category for coverage of the Libyan revolution. She holds a BA from Oxford University (First) and an MSc from the LSE in International Relations. She is currently on the board of the press association for UN correspondents in Geneva (ACANU).
Read Next
ago China category
U.S. President Donald Trump is considering significant tariff relief for U.S. auto production that could effectively eliminate much of the costs major car companies are paying, Republican Senator Bernie Moreno and auto officials told Reuters Friday.
Site Index
About Reuters
Stay Informed
Information you can trust
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world’s media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.