Israel has intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship carrying Greta Thunberg and other prominent activists, detaining those onboard and taking them to Israel.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) earlier said the Israeli military had boarded the “Madleen,” which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza – where more than 600 days of war, and an 11-week Israeli blockade of all aid, have pushed the enclave’s 2.1 million people deeper into a hunger crisis.
Climate activist Thunberg, “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan — a French member of the European Parliament — are among those on the “Madleen.”
“(The vessel) is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X early Monday local time.
The foreign ministry posted a video showing members of the “Madleen” crew sitting side by side wearing orange life jackets while a solider hands them water and sandwiches. Thunberg can be seen sitting near the front of the group.
The FFC had earlier said the ship had come “under assault in international waters,” in a Telegram post.
“Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,” the FFC said. A video posted by Israel’s foreign ministry appeared to show a Navy staffer sending a radio message to the vessel saying the “maritime zone off the coast of Gaza was closed.”
In a video livestreamed from the boat, activist Yasmin Acar showed a white substance on the deck, saying it had been dropped on the vessel. Acar was later heard saying it was affecting her eyes.
The FFC group also posted a video on Telegram, showing members of the crew sitting inside the boat with their hands in the air.
After losing communication with the vessel, the FFC began posting pre-recorded video messages from Thunberg and others onboard. “If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg said in her video.
Israel had repeatedly vowed to stop the aid boat from reaching Gaza, and described the ship as a “selfie yacht” carrying “celebrities.”
“I have instructed the IDF to ensure that the ‘Madleen’ flotilla does not reach Gaza,” Israeli defense minister Israel Katz said on Sunday.
After the flotilla crew members were detained, a spokesperson for Katz said he had instructed the military to screen videos of the Hamas attacks on Israel from October 7, 2023 to the activists upon their arrival at Ashdod Port.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the group “attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity.”
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies,” it added.
In an earlier statement on Monday, the ministry said “unauthorized attempts to breach the blockade are dangerous, unlawful, and undermine ongoing humanitarian efforts.”
The “Madleen” is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an organization that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of Gaza and tried to break the siege by boat.
The crew, which had publicized the location of the ship with an online tracker, began preparing for the possibility of interception by the Israeli military. On Monday morning, the UK-flagged civilian vessel was north of Egypt in the Mediterranean Sea, slowly approaching the coast of Gaza, but the tracker has since appeared to have stopped.
“We know that it’s a very risky mission and we know that previous experiences with flotillas like this have resulted in attacks, violence and even cases of death,” Thunberg told CNN on Saturday.
Israel halted all humanitarian aid into Gaza in early March, and the ban on all humanitarian aid meant no supplies entered the territory for 11 weeks.
Faced with growing international pressure, Israel has begun allowing a trickle of aid in once again. But it is only a fraction of the aid that entered the enclave before the war, with humanitarian organizations warning of a worsening humanitarian crisis and the growing risk of widespread famine. A UN-backed report warned in late April that one in five people were facing starvation. (CNN)
