Turin, 2 October (LaPresse) – The transfer and disembarkation of the flotilla members has been completed. According to sources at the Foreign Ministry, among the more than 450 flotilla members who disembarked at the port of Ashdod, there are 46 Italians, including four MPs and three journalists. They are all well. Once the identification procedures have been completed, the sources explain, they will all be transferred by bus to the Ketziot detention centre in southern Israel, near the city of Beersheba. The detainees will not be interrogated or subjected to any particular legal procedures. They will only be asked whether they are willing to accept voluntary expulsion within 24/48 hours or whether they intend to refuse it. For those who refuse voluntary expulsion, sources explain, a brief judicial proceeding will be opened, at the end of which a judge is expected to order their forced expulsion. This normally takes place within 72 hours of the expulsion order. The Italian diplomatic and consular authorities in Tel Aviv will visit the Italian detainees on Friday 3 and Sunday 5 in the morning to check on their condition, the treatment they have received and to facilitate contact with their families. It is not clear when the repatriations will begin. The Israeli authorities, the sources conclude, are also looking into the possibility of organising charter flights to return the members of the flotilla to two European capitals.
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