By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A former senator who was detained by Israeli forces last week while leading an aid flotilla bound for Gaza has safely departed for home, the Pakistani Embassy in Jordan said late Wednesday, capping a diplomatic effort to secure his release amid ongoing tensions over Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, a onetime lawmaker with the Islamist party Jamaat-i-Islami, had been at the helm of the Pakistani delegation aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, a convoy of 45 vessels that set sail from Spain last month. The flotilla, carrying activists and politicians, including Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg, aimed to deliver humanitarian aid and challenge Israel’s long-standing restrictions on supplies entering Gaza.
But as the boats neared their destination, Israeli forces intercepted the convoy, detaining those on board before deporting them. In a post on the social media platform X, the embassy said the former senator had safely departed for Pakistan. “In accordance with the instructions of the honorable deputy prime minister of Pakistan, the embassy of Pakistan in Amman ensured all necessary arrangements were made for his safe and smooth departure,” it said.
The X account for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reposted the embassy’s message. The announcement came after Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar spoke on Wednesday with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi. According to the foreign ministry, Dar appreciated Jordan’s role in receiving the flotilla’s released detainees and facilitating their return home. “He also thanked Jordan for its assistance in enabling the return of former senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan to Amman,” it said, adding that Mushtaq was scheduled to reach Pakistan today.
A day earlier, Dar had stated that Khan had been released and was safely with the embassy in Amman. He also said that he had spoken to the ex-senator on arrival in Islamabad from Malaysia. “Senator Mushtaq is fine and in high spirits. I lauded the courage and steadfastness of senator Mushtaq for being part of the Sumud Flotilla in support of the Palestinian cause, to break the siege to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” he said. “Senator Mushtaq thanked for the efforts made by the Pakistan Foreign Office in reaching out to him in Tel Aviv, Israel through a friendly European country’s mission there and for the full support and facilitation for his stay and safety in Amman by Pakistan embassy,” he said.
Khan, meanwhile, offered a stark account of his ordeal in a video posted to his X account on Tuesday, vowing that the push to end the blockade would persist despite the hardships endured. “I have reached Jordan along with 150 of my companions,” he said, adding that he had finally been released from Israeli detention. “During this time, our hands were cuffed behind our backs, our feet were shackled and chained, we were blindfolded, dogs were set upon us, guns were pointed at us, and we were tortured in the worst way,”.
He said that the activists went on a hunger strike for three days, adding that they were denied access to air, drinking water, medication, and were not allowed to lie down. “We have been freed,” he said. “And the fight for Palestinian freedom will continue. We will break this blockade. We will go again and again. We will make efforts to save Gaza, and those who are complicit in this genocide — those criminals will be punished,” he asserted.
He emphasized that the fight would continue “from Adiala jail to Israeli jails,” promising that he would return to Pakistan soon and provide a detailed account of his time on the flotilla as well as in Israeli detention.
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