Israel intercepts yacht Greta Thunberg was using to enter Gaza

The Israeli military intercepted the Madleen on June 9. It was carrying 12 activists, including сthe notorious Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who tried to “break the blockade” of Gaza. Israel to return yacht passengers to their countries, reports New York Times.

Photo: Per Grunditz | Dreamstime.com

Israel said on Monday it had intercepted a ship heading to Gaza carrying humanitarian aid and 9 people on board, including activist Greta Thunberg.

The civilian vessel Madleen was operating under the auspices of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a coalition opposing the nearly two-decade-long blockade of Gaza.

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The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its activists had been "kidnapped" by the Israeli military, while Israel said it intended to return the ship's passengers to their countries.

The yacht Madleen left Sicily on June 1. Israel vowed to prevent it from entering Gaza, saying the military would use "any means necessary" to stop the attempt to break Israel's naval blockade of the strip.

Video footage taken on board the Madleen in the early morning hours of June 9 shows people in the wheelhouse putting on orange life jackets as a brightly lit vessel approaches. The arrivals are then seen boarding the Madleen.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirmed that drones were initially circling above the ship, after which communication with the crew was lost.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry later released a video that it said showed passengers on the ship wearing life jackets and being given sandwiches and water.

"The 'celebrity's selfie yacht' is safely heading to the shores of Israel," the ministry wrote on social media. "The Israeli Foreign Ministry accused 'Greta and other activists' of trying to 'stage a media provocation with the sole purpose of attracting attention.'"

At a briefing for reporters on June 9, a government spokesman said the ship's passengers would be "returned to their countries as soon as possible."

Among the passengers on the ship were Greta Thunberg, who rose to fame through her climate change protests, and Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament.

Thunberg, among other things, actively opposes Israel's blockade of Gaza and its actions during the war.

“We do this no matter how hopeless the situation seems. We simply must keep trying,” she said last week. “Because when we stop trying, we lose our humanity. And as dangerous as that task is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the world remaining silent in the face of live-streamed genocide.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant issued a strong statement on Sunday, June 8: "To Greta the anti-Semite and her friends, the Hamas propagandists, I say bluntly: You had better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or to provide assistance to terrorist organizations by sea, air or land."

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement that it was delivering much-needed supplies, including baby food, flour, rice, diapers, medicine and children's prosthetics.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called the volume of these supplies "negligible" and "less than one truckload of aid."

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza with Egyptian support after the Islamist movement Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007. Israeli officials say the blockade is necessary to prevent arms smuggling into the strip.

The blockade has been in place for 20 months, following a deadly Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023. Until recently, Israel had completely blocked humanitarian aid from entering the territory for about 80 days, which international organizations estimate has pushed Gaza’s population to the brink of starvation. Over time, Israel has supported an aid delivery scheme that is marked by violence and boycotted by humanitarian organizations. (International aid organizations and independent observers have reported that attempts to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza through Israeli-established routes have been accompanied by chaos, looting, attacks on aid convoys, and sometimes shelling. A number of humanitarian organizations, such as the UN, Doctors Without Borders, and the Red Cross, have refused to actively participate in aid delivery through Israeli-established routes due to insecurity, inefficient distribution, and the inability to ensure that aid reaches those in need. – Note.)

The Madleen expedition was another attempt by activists to break the blockade of Gaza.

In April, a ship called Conscience left Tunisia with humanitarian aid for Gaza. It was scheduled to stop off the coast of Malta to pick up additional passengers, including Greta Thunberg. However, the ship was attacked by drones. No passengers or crew were harmed, but the mission was abandoned.

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In 2010, nine passengers on the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid from Turkey to Gaza, were killed in a raid by Israeli commandos, causing an international outcry and damaging relations between Turkey and Israel. A tenth passenger died of his wounds several years later.

Israel then said its troops, who descended from a helicopter onto the deck, were attacked with sticks, metal rods and knives.

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