Azerbaijan, Baku, June 2 / Trend U.Sadikhova /
Two Azerbaijani citizens detained by Israel in the vessels of "flotilla of freedom" may be sent homeland today, the Israeli Interior Ministry told Trend.
The Interior Ministry began deporting the remaining foreign nationals who arrived on the international flotilla today and Azerbaijanis are likely to be among them.
"Today, all must be returned back home," the ministry's official representative said.
Two Azerbaijani citizens detained by Israel in the vessels of "flotilla of freedom" are in the prison in the Beer Sheba city of Israel, the Ministry told Trend earlier.
The date of their departure is still unknown. The Azerbaijani citizens will be sent back from the Tel Aviv airport and not through Jordan, as previously reported.
The representative of the Israeli Ministry refused to give any information about the identity of the detainees.
There were no Azerbaijanis among the 123 people deported to Jordan,Azerbaijani ambassador to Jordan Elman Arasli told Trend.
"The assumption that Azerbaijanis are among them [the deportees] did not confirmed," Arasli said over the telephone from Amman." We checked the lists and found no Azerbaijanis among them."
Two Azerbaijani citizens detained by Israel in the vessels of "flotilla of freedom" are in Israel, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Trend.
About 682 activists will be deported, local media reported with reference to the Interior Ministry. Forty-five voluntarily agreed to deportation and left Israel Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported.
"It was decided that the detainees would be immediately deported under procedures specified by the law. The Interior Ministry announced that the departures will start tonight and they are expected to be completed within approximately 48 hours," the government reported.
The Israeli Special Forces conducted an operation in neutral waters Sunday night to intercept the "Flotilla of Freedom." The six vessels carrying at least 600 human rights activists, mostly Turkish citizens, and thousands of tons of humanitarian goods, moved toward a blocked Palestinian enclave. Nineteen activists died in the ensuing clash between the flotilla and the activists.
After the fleet's interception, according to the Interior Ministry, representatives of nearly 40 countries were sent to Israeli prisons. More than half are citizens of Turkey. The rest are citizens of Australia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UK, Germany, Greece, Egypt, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Serbia, Syria, the United States, France, Czech Republic, Sweden and South Africa.