Israel has intercepted 22 out of the 58 aid ships travelling through international waters and bound for the besieged Gaza Strip.The ships make up part of a second Global Sumud Flotilla to try in recent months to break an Israeli blockade by carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. They sailed from the Spanish port of Barcelona on April 12.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe vessels were seized by Israel late on Wednesday in international waters off Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula, hundreds of miles from Gaza, the flotilla’s organisers said on Thursday.Israel “kidnapped” 211 of the 400 activists taking part in the flotilla, including a Paris city councillor, according to the flotilla’s organisers. Israel’s Foreign Ministry had earlier put the number of those detained at 175.Here’s how world leaders have reacted to the news:ItalyItaly called for the immediate release of Italian nationals on board the flotilla.Italy “condemns the seizure of the Global Sumud Flotilla vessels… and calls on Israel to immediately release all the unlawfully detained Italians”, the government said in a statement.Italy’s ANSA news agency cited sources among the organisers saying 24 Italians had been detained.In its statement, the government also called for the “full respect of international law and guarantees on the physical safety of the people on board”.It said it was “committed to continue supplying humanitarian aid to Gaza in the framework of our cooperation and in respect of international law”.GermanyIn a joint statement with Italy, Germany said it was fo …
