Six Italians on the aid flotilla destined for the Gaza Strip are being held in Israel, Italian officials said Tuesday.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he hoped the group would be released "as soon as possible", DPA reported.
"The Israelis say they are holding those who refused expulsion orders," served against them, Frattini said in a interview on television news programme TG Uno.
Frattini said Italian embassy officials in Tel Aviv would visit the group.
The six have been identified as opera singer Giuseppe "Joe" Fallisi, journalist Angela Lano, Marcello Faracci, Manolo Luppichini, Manuel Zani and Ismail Abdel-Rahim Qaraqe Awin, who is of Palestinian origin, the ANSA news agency reported.
They were being held in Ashdod, a port city south of Tel Aviv along with many of the 480 people who were on the flotilla when it was attacked by Israeli forces.