A man who grew up in Hicksville is being imprisoned by Israel after he and hundreds of other activists were captured aboard an aid flotilla en route to break the country’s blockade on Gaza by delivering food and medicine, his mother said.

His mother, Helen Lein, of Bohemia, 73, learned via an Instagram video that her son, Eric Lein, 39, had been among about 450 activists who were captured. That video was timed to be released automatically in case the flotilla failed to make it to Gaza, where Israel has restricted aid from entering.

Recalling his reasons for joining the Global Sumud Flotilla, she said he explained how he was horrified and heartbroken by videos of what has been happening in Gaza, where, the United Nations has said , there is "famine and widespread starvation."

“‘If the

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