Statement: Israel Abducts U.S. Journalists & Activists Aboard Humanitarian Flotilla

Defending Rights & Dissent Policy Director Chip Gibbons has issued the following statement in response to news that Israel has abducted activists and reporters aboard humanitarian aid boats bound for Gaza:

We are deeply concerned that Israel has once again kidnapped activists trying to bring desperately needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

It is also outrageous that it has kidnapped journalists, including U.S. reporter Alex Colston.

Israel’s blockade of Gaza is illegal under international law, as is its kidnappings on the high sea. Israel also has a deliberate policy of both barring international journalists from Gaza and assassinating Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Its kidnapping of journalists in international waters must be considered in that context.

We call on the State Department to defend the rights of those Americans illegally held by Israel, as well as fulfill its international and domestic legal obligations by working to end Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza and attacks on humanitarian ships. The U.S. must end all military aid to Israel now.

Colston was also among those abducted by Israel while aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla last year. In November 2025, Defending Rights & Dissent co-hosted a panel discussion with Colston along with Emily Wilder of Jewish Currents and independent journalist Noa Avishag Schnall. Watch that panel below: