Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Saturday, announced that it had successfully deported 137 volunteers of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) humanitarian initiative to Turkey.

The ministry, in a Facebook post, described the volunteers as ‘provocateurs of the Hamas–Sumud flotilla’, intercepted by Israel’s naval force on Wednesday.

“These individuals, who arrived under the guise of ‘humanitarian aid’ made it clear – through their actions, their rejection of all proposals by Israel, Italy, and Greece to peacefully transfer the aid, and the small quantity of aid they actually carried on their boats – that their true goal was provocation in the service of Hamas, not humanitarian assistance,” Israel’s foreign ministry stated.

Revealing the nationalities of the deportees, the ministry stated that individuals returned include citizens of the United States, Italy, the United Kingdom, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Malaysia, Bahrain, Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia and Turkey.

The ministry reaffirmed its plan to quicken the deportation exercise, decrying how a number of the volunteers are “deliberately obstructing the legal deportation process, preferring instead to linger in Israel.”

“At the same time, several foreign governments have shown reluctance to accept flights that would return these provocateurs. Nevertheless, all participants in this publicity stunt will be deported as swiftly as possible,” the ministry added.