Israeli commandos boarded the humanitarian ship Madleen, carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg and other activists, as it tried to travel to the Gaza Strip.
Rima Hassan, an MEP and one of the passengers on the British-flagged yacht owned by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), posted a photograph showing individuals in life jackets with raised hands.
Hassan in a series of tweets on X stated that the crew of the Freedom Flotilla had been arrested by Israeli military in international waters at about 2 a.m.
The FFC, which is an alliance of humanitarian organizations behind the project, made the announcement through their Telegram channel that communication with the Madleen had been lost, referring to the situation as a "kidnapping" by Israeli soldiers.
The vessel left Sicily on Friday with the intention of providing aid and breaking Israel's long-standing sea blockade of Gaza, imposed since well before the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The FFC explained that the ship had been "prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack.
At the same time, the Israeli Foreign Ministry repelled the mission, describing the Madleen as a "celebrity celebrities' selfie yacht" and confirmed that it was being escorted to Israeli shores safely. The ministry blamed the activists on board for staging a media stunt aimed at gathering publicity only and said the passengers were to return home in their countries.
On X, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted:
"Selfie yacht of the 'celebrities' is arriving safely along the shores of Israel. Passengers will return to the countries where they came from.". Whereas Greta and others sought to orchestrate a media stunt whose only aim was publicity — and which involved fewer than a single truckload of relief — over 1,200 truckloads of aid have come into Gaza from Israel in the last two weeks, and further, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has handed out nearly 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.
The ministry went on to say, "There are means of sending aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not include Instagram selfies. The small portion of aid that was on board the yacht and not devoured by the 'celebrities' will be sent to Gaza via actual humanitarian channels."
On the other hand, the FFC highlighted that the Madleen brought a symbolic quantity of commodities, such as rice and baby formula.
The interception came hours after Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to "take all necessary steps" to block the ship from reaching Gaza and ordered the military to stop its movement. Israel argues that its 2007 blockade is necessary to prevent arms deliveries to Hamas fighters.
This is not aid but a publicity stunt. They have less than 100 pounds of aid. A tiny fraction of what is being delivered successfully every day into Gaza," Israeli Embassy spokesperson Guy Nir said to NDTV.
Nir added, “Like they bring in aid - they might bring in other things, like ammunition. Hence, we need to check before entry, like all aid. They do not have different privileges. Every country that has an unauthorized vessel enter its territorial waters - will stop a vessel. Again. They do not have special privileges because there are celebrities on board.”
The FFC, however, dismissed Israel's naval blockade as illegal and condemned Tel Aviv for having resorted to threats and recourse to justifying violence via "smears."
"We will not be intimidated. The world is watching. The Madleen is a civilian ship, unarmed and traveling in international waters, with humanitarian aid and human rights activists from all over the world. Israel has no right to prevent our attempt to reach Gaza," announced the coalition in a statement.
This trip was the FFC's second recent effort to bring assistance to Gaza via the sea. In May, their vessel, the Conscience, had stopped an attempt at a similar mission after having reportedly been hit by a drone strike while making its way in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The FFC blamed Israel for orchestrating the attack, which crippled the ship. Israel has not confirmed or denied any involvement in the earlier incident.
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