{"id":126340,"date":"2026-05-22T10:30:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=126340"},"modified":"2026-05-22T10:30:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T05:30:04","slug":"saad-edhi-freed-alongside-flotilla-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/","title":{"rendered":"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Pakistan on Thursday confirmed the release of humanitarian worker Saad Edhi, following Israel\u2019s announcement that it has deported all foreign activists detained during its\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2001403\">interception<\/a>\u00a0of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Mr Saad \u2014 grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi \u2014 had arrived safely in Istanbul along with other activists following what he described as \u201cconcerted efforts\u201d by the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dar also thanked the Turkish government for facilitating Saad\u2019s return and ensuring his safe passage to Istanbul. He described Israel\u2019s treatment of humanitarian workers as \u201cdeeply condemnable and totally unacceptable\u201d and reiterated Pakistan\u2019s \u201cunequivocal support\u201d for the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israeli forces intercepted around 50 vessels carrying nearly 430 participants on Monday as part of a flotilla attempting to challenge the naval blockade on Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, the release of a video by Israeli minister Ben-Gvir that&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2001963\/outcry-after-israeli-minister-posts-video-of-flotilla-activists-bound-and-tied\">showed<\/a>&nbsp;the detained activists being humiliated and assaulted turned opinion against Tel Aviv, forcing it to release nearly all detained activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The returning activists narrated how Israeli forces brutally assaulted detainees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belgian activist Julien Cabral said commandos brutally punched them, tightly bound their hands with plastic restraints and pressed their necks down for hours inside cramped prison vans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The activists were slapped, insulted and denied medical treatment despite visible injuries. Cabral claimed passengers aboard one vessel collectively suffered dozens of fractures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Pakistan on Thursday confirmed the release of humanitarian worker Saad Edhi, following Israel\u2019s announcement that it has deported all foreign activists detained during its\u00a0interception\u00a0of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters earlier this week. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Mr Saad \u2014 grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi \u2014 had arrived safely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Pakistan on Thursday confirmed the release of humanitarian worker Saad Edhi, following Israel\u2019s announcement that it has deported all foreign activists detained during its\u00a0interception\u00a0of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters earlier this week. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Mr Saad \u2014 grandson of late philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi \u2014 had arrived safely [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T05:30:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T05:30:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-11-4.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/\",\"name\":\"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-11-4.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T05:30:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-22T05:30:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-11-4.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Untitled-design-11-4.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/126340\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Saad Edhi freed alongside flotilla activists - Nation","og_description":"ISLAMABAD(National Times)- Pakistan on Thursday confirmed the release of humanitarian worker Saad Edhi, following Israel\u2019s announcement that it has deported all foreign activists detained during its\u00a0interception\u00a0of the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters earlier this week. 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