ROME, April 30 (Xinhua) -- The Italian government on Thursday called on Israel to immediately release the 24 Italian nationals detained during the interception of the Global Sumud Flotilla, and urged the Israeli authorities to provide further details about the incident.

In a statement, the office of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the seizure of the vessels and called on Israel to "immediately release all Italians illegally detained, fully respect international law, and guarantee the physical safety of those on board."

According to Italy's ANSA news agency, the flotilla's legal team said Israeli forces intercepted 22 vessels involved in a Gaza-bound aid mission overnight Wednesday, and that 24 of those arrested are Italian nationals.

Meanwhile, Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Danny Danon, described the flotilla as "provocative" in a post on social media platform X on Thursday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is an international initiative aimed at delivering humanitarian aid that has seen repeated attempts to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza. The vessels involved in this mission departed in recent weeks from Marseille in France, Barcelona in Spain and Syracuse in Sicily. ■