An Israeli cruise ship which was turned away from the Greek island of Syros on Tuesday after a mass protest was staged at the island’s port was approaching Cyprus on Wednesday morning.

The ship, the Crown Iris, has still not publicly disclosed its planned destination, but was headed eastwards towards Cyprus after leaving the Aegean Sea overnight.

According to Israeli newspaper the Times of Israel, the ship has around 1,600 Israeli nationals on board. The same newspaper reported that it is en route to Limassol.

It also reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar spoke with his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis about the matter, and “requested intervention”.

Meanwhile, Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis reacted with fury to the protest, describing it as “shameful for Greece”.

“We owe an apology to those friends of Greece who chose to spend their holidays here and were forcibly denied that right by some. This incident must neither harm our relations with [Israel] nor the love of Israeli tourists for Greece,” he said.

He then accused the protesters of antisemitism.

The ship off the coast of Syros

The ship had been due to spend six hours at Syros but elected not to dock due to the protest, with multiple news outlets reporting that the incident had been confirmed by its operator Mano Maritime.

“The ship arrived at Syros, encountered a demonstration by pro-Palestinian supporters, and passengers were stuck on board without permission to disembark,” the company is quoted as saying.

The protest had been organised by an activist group called We Stay Active, which wrote in a social media post that “residents and visitors to the island state that [Israeli Defence Forces] soldiers, settlers, and supporters of the war and the occupation of Palestine are unwanted on their island”.

“We note that there have been numerous complaints from all over Greece about the provocative behaviour of Israeli tourists, who support genocide and who behave as if our places belong to them. We do not want their money! We do not tolerate their presence! Bravo to the residents of Syros!” it added.

An update to the post stated that some people who were aboard the Crown Iris managed to disembark, before shouting “Turkey will f**k you!” at the crowd and then being pushed back onto the boat.

Then, a further update announced that the ship had departed, but that “residents remain on alert in case it tries to return”.

“Of course, those who oppose the war, the occupation, and the genocide are welcome,” the post concluded.

The Crown Iris was used last month to ferry Israeli nationals and non-Israeli Jewish people between Cyprus and Israel after Israel closed its airspace during an 11-day exchange of missile fire with Iran.

The ship made multiple trips between Cyprus and the Israeli port of Ashdod, including transporting 1,500 Jewish citizens of the United States, Canada and Australia to Larnaca on June 18.

They were then transferred to Larnaca airport to continue their journeys to their home countries.

The following week, it set sail from Limassol for Ashdod with around 1,400 Israeli nationals on board as part of the country’s Operation Safe Return – the Israeli government’s plan to coordinate repatriations of its citizens amid the conflict.