South Korea's Lee says Israel acted 'way out of line' as Gaza flotilla activists detained

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung sharply criticized Israel on Wednesday over the detention of South Korean activists aboard Gaza-bound aid vessels, calling the arrests "way out of line" and saying they were carried out in international waters for reasons "not valid under international law," according to a Reuters report. 

Lee, speaking at a cabinet meeting in Seoul, also said he believed many European countries were willing to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under International Criminal Court warrants.

The comments came after the Korean "Flotilla for a Free Palestine" confirmed that the Israeli navy intercepted the Lina al-Nabulsi in the early hours of Wednesday near Gaza, carrying South Korean activist Kim Ah-hyun and Korean-American activist Jonathan Victor Lee. 

The seizure followed the takeover on Monday of the Kyriakos X, which was carrying another South Korean activist, Kim Dong-hyeon. According to the Korea Herald, Israeli forces this time chose to detain those aboard and sink the boats rather than tow them. Kim Ah-hyun's passport had previously been invalidated by Seoul over earlier attempts to reach Gaza.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry described the broader Gaza flotilla effort as "another publicity stunt flotilla that has come to an end and has proven to be nothing more than a trick serving Hamas." Netanyahu, speaking by phone with the commander of Fleet 3 during the operation, praised the navy for "thwarting a malicious plan designed to break through the isolation we are imposing on the Hamas terrorists in Gaza."

The Turkish-led flotilla set out from Marmaris, and the detained activists are being transferred to an Israeli vessel serving as a "floating prison" en route to Ashdod port. It was organized by IHH, the same group that previously organized the Mavi Marmara flotilla.

The Seoul row threatens to compound a parallel diplomatic crisis with Ireland, which closed the Israeli embassy in Dublin in 2024. Irish President Catherine Connolly expressed strong public support for her sister, family doctor Margaret Connolly, who was also detained aboard the Gaza aid flotilla. Connolly said she was "very proud" of her sister, while Margaret Connolly released a pre-recorded video in which she said, "I was kidnapped from my boat, and I am now being held illegally; the struggle of Palestine is the moral compass of our time."