PETALING JAYA: The nine Malaysians who were detained by Israeli authorities while taking part in humanitarian missions are expected to return home on Sunday (Oct 12).
In a post on Facebook, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the group, which was among those taking part in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and Thousand Madleens to Gaza (TMTG) missions, has safely arrived in Istanbul, Turkiye.
"Alhamdulillah, the Malaysians who were detained by the Zionist Israeli regime have safely arrived in Istanbul earlier on Saturday (Oct 11).
"All nine activists will board Saudia flight SV278, departing Istanbul at 6.25pm local time, with a transit in Jeddah.
"They will then take Saudia flight SV834 from Jeddah and are expected to arrive at KLIA1 at 3.55pm on Sunday (Oct 12), InshaAllah," he posted on Facebook.
The nine Malaysian representatives are Prof Emeritus Dr Mohd Alauddin Mohd Ali, Dr Fauzian Mohd Hassan, Dr Hafiz Sulaiman, Dr Ili Syakira Mohd Suhaimi, Dr Mohd Afandi Salleh, Dr Noorhasyimah Ismail, Norsham Abu Bakar and journalist Syafik Shukri Abdul Jalil.
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On Friday (Oct 10), Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCare) chief executive officer Kamarul Zaman Shaharul Anwar said the nine Malaysians were among 95 activists flown to Turkiye that day.
He said it was understood that the flight carried activists from 22 countries, possibly including the nine Malaysians and six members of the Global Sumud Flotilla (from Norway, Morocco and Spain).
The FFC-TMTG mission, involving about 150 activists from 25 countries onboard nine ships, including the Conscience and Umm Saad, was intercepted by the Israeli military on Wednesday (Oct 8) at about 120 nautical miles from Gaza at 10.50am Malaysian time.
