Irish novelist Naoise Dolan has been abducted by Israel.

Naoise Dolan, one of Ireland’s most acclaimed young novelists, was earlier today abducted and detained by Israeli forces after the aid flotilla on which she was traveling to Gaza was intercepted by the IDF.

In a video posted to her Instagram in the wake of her abduction, Dolan—the author of Exciting Times (2020) and The Happy Couple (2023)—makes the following statement:

My name is Naoise Dolan and I’m a citizen of Ireland. If you are watching this video, I was abducted and taken against my will by Israeli forces. Our humanitarian mission was nonviolent and abiding by international law. Please contact my government to demand my immediate release.

Dolan had been part of the Thousand Madleens Flotilla, a group of nine boats traveling behind the Global Sumud Flotilla, which was intercepted last week.

“Our plan A was always to deliver the aid, but we knew this could happen, and we accepted it as a calculated risk,” Dolan said in a voice note sent before the interception of the Thousand Madleens. “We don’t take stupid risks, we don’t take unnecessary risks, but we do take risks that we see as required in order to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade and defend Palestinian self-determination.”

As I wrote back in August when she announced her intention to board the the Global Sumud Flotilla to break the siege on Gaza:

[Dolan] has been among the loudest pro-Palestinian voices in the Irish cultural community since Israel began its assault on Gaza almost two years ago. In newspaper columns, on social media, and in public speeches, Dolan has condemned the inaction and complicity of Western governments, including her own, and has now decided to take her advocacy a step further by joining the largest coordinated civilian flotilla in history as it attempts “to open up a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Several members of the Global Sumud Flotilla have alleged that they were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment while in Israeli custody.