Hunter activist Zack Schofield has been detained by Israeli military forces for the second time in as many months.
Mr Schofield rejoined the humanitarian aid protest Global Sumud Flotilla just over a week ago after he was initially detained and held for two days on onboard an Israeli military vessel late last month.
The vessel he was aboard was stopped off the coast of Cyprus on Monday, May 18.
Protest organisers have described the incident as a "kidnapping", and said Mr Schofield was among 11 other Australians who had fallen out of contact since their vessel was intercepted.
Mr Schofield is a leader of the Hunter's Rising Tide climate action movement.
In a brief statement made before the interception, he had said they were in international waters about 400 kilometres from Gaza.
The flotilla's 53 remaining vessels set sail from Italy last month with hundreds of humanitarian activists and 500 tonnes of aid on board. They said they were aiming to break Israel's blockade of Gaza to deliver food and medicine to Palestinians in the region.
Israel's Foreign Ministry has insisted that the protesters were engaged in a "provocative" stunt, and has claimed multiple times that no aid had been found on board the vessels its navy has intercepted.
Israel's government has claimed the flotilla was supported by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has governed Gaza since 2007, and that its own "early action" to stop the fleet in international waters had been undertaken to "prevent the breach of a lawful blockade".
The United Nations, alongside the home countries of the activists arrested in both operations, denounced the arrests and demanded the release of detained protesters,
The Global Sumud Flotilla has engaged human rights lawyer Bernadette Zaydan, who said the group was compiling evidence of "grave violations" of freedom of navigation and international law in intercepting the fleet.
"If we want to live in a world with humanity, we have to actively stand up for humanity," Mr Schofield said in a statement prior to his detention.
The activist group has previously criticised the Australian government, which it says has continued to ally with Israel despite widespread condemnation of its government's treatment of Palestinians, including accusations of genocide.
A two-year United Nations investigation concluded in September last year that "Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts" since October 7, 2023.
Despite a tenuous ceasefire holding since October, the UN reported this week that killing and destruction of infrastructure in Gaza has continued on "an almost daily basis".
"There is abundant evidence of a genocide being undertaken in Gaza," Mr Schofield's father, Hunter-based neurological doctor Peter Schofield, said.
"With considerable skin in the game, I feel compelled to publicly decry the catastrophe of Gaza and the extraordinary failure of the international community to effectively intervene. "
Mr Schofield's mother, Joanne Jaworowski, issued an impassioned plea for her son's release during his first detention.
She said she held grave fears for his safety.
"My heart is in my throat. It's dangerous; it scares me; simultaneously, I'm very proud of his commitment to kindness and his determination to bring aid to the sick and the starving," she said.
Another Hunter activist detained with Mr Schofield and six other Australians last month said the flotilla would continue to sail in defiance of the blockade and Israel's efforts to stop them "for as long as Australia continues to support Israel's genocide".
"The Albanese government must condemn the kidnapping of its citizens by a foreign country. And it must follow that condemnation with real sanctions, political and economic, on the rogue state of Israel," student activist Ethan Floyd said.
"Until Anthony Albanese and Penny Wong show they have the guts to stand up for human rights and international law, we'll keep doing their job for them."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which last month dispatched consular officials to the Mediterranean to assist with the first release of Australian detainees, has urged protesters not join the Global Sumud Flotilla.
War in the MIddle East had constrained the department's abilities to ensure the safety of Australians in the area, it said.
"We understand people want to respond to the humanitarian situation in Gaza but we continue to urge Australians not to join others seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade as they will be putting themselves and others at risk of injury, death, arrest or deportation," a spokesperson told the Newcastle Herald.
The Global Sumud Flotilla attempted to make the same voyage in October last year, leading to the detention of seven of its members including Newcastle High School alumnus Cameron Tribe and Northern Rivers activist Surya McEwen.
"We encourage those wishing to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza to do so through established channels," the department spokesperson said.
