Israeli defence minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden's Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is now off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen ... does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You'd better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel's illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of anti-Semitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble. The UN has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3-million population is at risk of famine.
Israel orders military to stop Gaza-bound yacht carrying Greta Thunberg
Image: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop a charity boat carrying activists including Sweden's Greta Thunberg who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is now off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen ... does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You'd better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.”
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel's illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of anti-Semitism.
Israel went to war with Hamas in October 2023 after the Islamist militants launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to the enclave, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble. The UN has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3-million population is at risk of famine.
Katz said the blockade was essential to Israel's national security as it seeks to eliminate Hamas.
“Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was some 160 nautical miles (296km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament.
Israeli media have reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded a Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, that was leading a small flotilla towards Gaza.
Reuters
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