In May 2026, Dr. Margaret Connolly, sister to the Irish President Catherine Connolly, was detained by the Israeli naval forces in international waters while participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla, attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces boarded the aid vessels off the coast of Cyprus and took the 12 Irish citizens into custody. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, said that the raid was “effectively neutralizing a malicious plan designed to break the isolation we have imposed on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.” Meanwhile, President Connolly stated that the incident was “quite upsetting,” and the Irish government strongly condemned the Israeli military action. Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Ireland’s prime minister, stated that people have a right to protest the humanitarian issues in Gaza, calling the detention of civilians in international waters “wrong” and “unacceptable.” Dr. Connolly and the other detainees have been released at the time of writing.