Activists from Gaza-bound flotilla expected to return to Canada this weekend

The first of six Canadian activists aboard a flotilla that was detained by Israeli forces while attempting to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip has returned home.

Indigenous rights activist Mskwaasin Agnew landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Saturday afternoon, greeted by a group of family, friends and supporters.

“Israel kidnaped me in international waters,” she told a group of reporters through tears. “They held me illegally. I did nothing wrong.”

The Israeli military interception earlier this week involved a flotilla of nine boats in the Mediterranean Sea. The activists aboard them had been attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, a total of 145 activists were brough to shore for processing and deportation in Israel following the interception. It came after nearly 450 activists, including European lawmakers and climate activist Greta Thunberg, were detained after more than 40 boats tried to reach Gaza.

A famine has been declared by UN-backed agencies and international NGOs in the Gaza Strip since August.

Agnew returned to Toronto from Istanbul, Turkey, where she was deported to on Thursday with 100 other members of the flotilla.

“Israel is committing genocide and an ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” she said. “This is a manufactured famine.”

Agnew also called on the Canadian government to impose sanctions on Israel.

Nimâ Machouf, an activist and doctor who was aboard the same intercepted vessel as Agnew, is expected to land in Montreal on Sunday evening, her husband said, and will also be flying from Istanbul.

“We are very proud of her,” said Amir Khadir, a former Quebec solidaire member of the province’s legislature. “We are relieved that nothing too extreme happened to her.”

Khadir said he’s feeling a mixture of joy and sadness, adding the “misery of the Palestinian people will not end just because Nimâ came back.”

He was told by his wife that Israeli forces were violent towards the activists they detained.

“They were ill treated, (treated with) violence and dragged by their hair,” he said.

He said he heard those intercepted from flotillas were forced to kneel on the ground for hours at a time and that some were denied their medication.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry has previously denied the accusations of mistreatment.

Also set to return this weekend is Khurram Musti Khan, from Milton, Ont. Gur Tasbar, speaking on behalf of Canadians that took part in the mission, said Khan is expected to return to Toronto from Istanbul on Sunday evening.

Newfoundlanders Sadie Mees, Nikita Stapleton and Devoney Ellis are still detained in Israel, he said, but are expected to be deported to Jordan on Sunday.

— with files from Cassidy McMackon in Toronto

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 11, 2025.