TODAY’S PAPER | October 02, 2025 | EPAPER

Jamaat-i-Islami Ex-Senator Mushtaq Ahmad captured by Israeli forces

Pakistan condemns the Israeli forces, PM demands release of volunteers


Web Desk October 02, 2025 2 min read
Ex Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan part of the Gaza flotilla Photo: X

Former Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan was arrested by Israeli forces, according to a statement released by the Palestine Action Coalition of Pakistan. Senator Ahmed was leading the five-member Pakistani delegation as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Jamaat-i-Islami has previously voiced support for the Flotilla, with JI member Amir Hafeez Naeemur Rehman expressing solidarity with the aid ships, calling for stronger support for the Palestinian cause.

Israeli forces have stopped 13 boats carrying foreign activists and aid bound for Gaza, but 30 boats are continuing to sail towards the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave, flotilla organisers said on Thursday.

According to the latest update published on the Global Sumud Flotilla official X account, dozens of ships are still on course to Gaza, some less than 50 kilometers from the Gaza coast.

EMERGENCY ALERT ❗❗❗❗❗#GlobalSumudFilotilla BOAT, MALI, INTERCEPTED IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS LESS THAN 60 KILOMETERS FROM THE #GAZA COAST. ALMOST 40 SHIPS ARE STILL ON COURSE TO GAZA. SOME LESS THAN 50 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM THE COASTLINE!!!#GlobalSumudFlottilla #Gaza

— Global Sumud Flotilla ✨ (@GSMFlotilla) October 2, 2025

A video from the Israeli foreign ministry verified by Reuters showed the most prominent of the flotilla's passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.

"Several vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port," the Israeli foreign ministry said on X. "Greta and her friends are safe and healthy."

Read: 30 boats evade Israeli capture, continue sail to Gaza

Prime Miniser Shehbaz Sharif and the Foreign Office have both released statements condemning this act of agression by Israel. PM Shehbaz has demanded the volunters immediate release.

The Foreign Office has stated this act to be "as part of Israel's ongoing pattern of aggression and its illegal blockade of Gaza."

The Global Sumud Flotilla, transporting medicine and food to Gaza, consists of more than 40 civilian boats with about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists.

The flotilla put out several videos on Telegram with messages from individuals aboard the various boats, some holding their passports and claiming they were abducted and taken to Israel against their will, and reiterating that their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause.

The flotilla is the most high-profile symbol of opposition to Israel's blockade of Gaza.

Its progress across the Mediterranean Sea garnered international attention as nations including Turkey, Spain and Italy sent boats or drones in case their nationals required assistance, even as it triggered repeated warnings from Israel to turn back.

COMMENTS (3)

Benjamin | 1 hour ago | Reply Pakistan should rather look it s own backyard Balochistan Khyber Pakhtunwala before stepping into others conflicts.
Mirza Asif Bag | 1 hour ago | Reply We are Glad. Express Tribune used the Word Captured or Abducted. Others using word Arrested which is not suitable at all. Saying Arrested by Israel is just like Saying being Arrested by Dicots . Arrest is a Legal Term and does not apply to Israel.
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