Last week, David Adler posted what he said would be his final communication from aboard a boat sailing toward Gaza carrying medical supplies, food and other aid.

The Southern Californian wrote that the previous night several Israeli naval ships had "menaced" the convoy of some 40 boats.

"They attacked our vessels, intimidated our crew, and disabled our communications," he said in the Oct. 1 post.

Soon after, his regular messages to his parents, who live in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of Encino, and to his older sister and brother stopped.

The 33-year-old co-founder of left-wing political organization Progressive International was among more than 450 peace activists, medical workers and other volunteers on the convoy known as the Gaza Sumud Flotilla who were detained late last week after Israeli naval forces intercepted the boats in international waters.

Early Tuesday, Adler and other U.S. citizens were released by Israel and deported to Jordan. Adler is expected to fly home Wednesday. Others have flights arranged by family and volunteers to transport them home to Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere in the coming days, attorneys supporting the flotilla activists said.

The release of American participants, with 21 remaining in Israeli custody as of Monday night, had lagged behind some other countries that maintain diplomatic ties with Israel. Hundreds, including prominent Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, had been deported from Israel and flown to Athens in prior days on flights coordinated by their home countries.

Family members of Adler and of the several other Californians detained, had waited in consternation and dismay, criticizing what they said was as a lackluster response by the U.S. government to support the release of their loved ones.

The U.S. government "did nothing for them," said Adler's sister, Laura, who added that she was briefly able to speak with her brother when he called from a phone he borrowed.

"Israel left them at the border and the U.S. gave them a ride to the airport. They were left with no phones, no money, no visas, no flights, no hotels," she said. "I just don't understand why our country, which is Israel's biggest supporter, can't be more assertive in protecting its citizens abroad."

Adler's family had not been able to reach him since Oct. 1 but learned about a day after he stopped responding that he had been taken to Ashdod, a major cargo port in Israel, and then transferred to Ketziot prison in the Negev Desert.

"I haven't been able to talk to him, I don't know what kind of shape he's in, and that makes me really scared," Ruth Kremen, Adler's mother, told The Times on Monday.

Kremen said that because Adler acquired nationality in France and Australia through his father, they were able to receive some limited information about his condition from reports compiled by representatives in those countries. By contrast, details from the U.S. government were scant, she said.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, and other California Democrats had urged the U.S. State Department to "act immediately" in a Monday letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"We call on you to work for (their) immediate and safe release, including arranging the logistics of a plane to ensure their speedy recovery," the letter said.

Besides Adler, those detained included three other Californians: internet celebrity Tommy Marcus, who is based in the Los Angeles area; Geraldine Ramirez, from Cathedral City in the Coachella Valley; and Logan Hollarsmith, of San Francisco.

The U.S. State Department did not respond to a request for comment from The Times but said in statements to other news outlets that it takes its "commitment to assist U.S. citizens seriously and (is) monitoring the situation."

"The flotilla is a deliberate and unnecessary provocation. We are currently focused on realizing President Trump's plan to end the war, which has been universally welcomed as a historic opportunity for a lasting peace," the State Department has said.

The core vessels in the Gaza Sumud Flotilla set sail from Barcelona, Spain, more than a month ago with volunteers from dozens of countries to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza and break a months-long blockade that world food crises authorities say has triggered a famine.

Israel's two-year-long siege on the strip of land has killed more than 60,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Israel's bombing campaign and restrictions on aid to a starving population have garnered accusations from a U.N. commission of inquiry and international legal bodies that the U.S. ally is carrying out genocide.

Israel has rejected the claim as "distorted and false" and contends its actions have been necessary to defend itself after Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked its war in Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed in that attack and 251 were taken hostage.

Although Adler's family was supportive of his cause, his mother and sister said they had tried to dissuade him from joining the flotilla, fearing for his safety — knowing that in an Israeli raid of a flotilla in 2010, 10 activists were killed, including one American, and dozens of others were injured.

"Both of us trusted him to do what he thought was right, and are very proud of him for what he did, but the anxiety level has been very high, absolutely," Adler's father, Paul, said. "Even if it was, in many ways symbolic, it drew attention to a tragedy beyond description."

Adler, who is Jewish, wrote in a piece for the Nation that his grandfather joined the Parisian resistance against the Nazis, and that he draws from his heritage in his rationale for joining the flotilla.

"I joined this flotilla just like any other delegate — to defend humanity, before it is too late. But on Yom Kippur, I am reminded that I am also here because my Jewish heritage demands it," Adler wrote.

Another Southern Californian is among those on a second convoy of about 10 boats that set sail last week.

L.A.-based independent journalist and human rights researcher Emily Wilder, who is on board to document the flotilla effort for news outlet Jewish Currents, said that "as a passenger on a ship in the same trajectory toward Gaza... toward a possible capture by Israeli forces," that she was "really concerned about the people that (had) been taken."

"But of course, a mission like this is inherently risky," Wilder said.

_____

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.