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A Turkish citizen detained by Israeli forces aboard a Gaza-bound aid vessel is expected to be released and leave Israel on Thursday, Turkish diplomatic sources said.
The sources said Wednesday that officials from the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv remain in contact with Suayb Ordu and his legal team.
They also noted that the case of Yasemin Acar, a German citizen, is being closely monitored and that the families of both Acar and Ordu are being kept informed about the process.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have placed two international activists from the same vessel in solitary confinement, an Israeli rights group said Wednesday.
In a statement, the rights organization and legal center Adalah said Brazilian volunteer Thiago Avila and French-Palestinian European Parliament member Rima Hassan were transferred to separate prison facilities and placed in solitary confinement.
"Tiago Avila was placed in isolation in Ayalon Prison due to his ongoing hunger and thirst strike, which he began two days ago," the group said.
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Adalah said Avila has been treated aggressively by prison authorities, though the treatment has not escalated to physical assault.
"Rima Hassan was placed in isolation under inhumane conditions in Neve Tirza Prison after writing 'Free Palestine' on a wall in Givon Prison," it added.
"She was moved to a small, windowless cell with extremely poor hygienic conditions and has been denied access to the prison yard."
The group condemned the transfer of the two foreign activists to separate prison facilities as "a serious violation of the volunteers’ rights and a clear attempt to exert mental and political pressure on them."
It called on Israeli authorities to end the solitary confinement, halt all "retaliatory actions," and immediately release all eight detained volunteers.
The aid ship Madleen was seized by Israeli naval forces early Monday while sailing in international waters and was redirected to the port of Ashdod.
Part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the vessel carried a 12-member crew, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Other activists aboard the Madleen included Acar and Ordu, as well as Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi and Reva Viard from France; Thiago Avila from Brazil; Sergio Toribio from Spain; Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands; and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, also from France.
As Israel continues to block all of Gaza’s border crossings to humanitarian aid since early March, aid agencies have warned of an increased risk of famine among the enclave’s 2.4 million residents.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.
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