logo
'Intercepted and kidnapped' - Israeli forces stop boat carrying Greta Thunberg

'Intercepted and kidnapped' - Israeli forces stop boat carrying Greta Thunberg

Israeli forces stopped a Gaza-bound aid boat and detained Greta Thunberg and other activists who were on board early on Monday, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas.
The activists had set out to protest against Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, both of which have put the territory of some two million Palestinians at risk of famine.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organised the voyage, said the activists were 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to the territory.
'The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies —confiscated,' it said in a statement.
Israel's Foreign Ministry cast the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying in a post on X that 'the 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel'.
It said the passengers would return to their home countries and the aid would be delivered to Gaza through established channels.
The boat was expected to arrive at the Israeli port of Ashdod later on Monday. It later circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing orange life vests.
Thunberg, a climate campaigner, was among 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it had stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by the Libyan coast guard.
'I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,' Thunberg said in a pre-recorded message released after the ship was halted.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was also among the volunteers on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians.
After a two-and-a-half-month total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers and experts have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza's Palestinian population.
Israel sealed Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, but later relented under US pressure.
In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages, more than half of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas is still holding 55 hostages, more than half of them believed to be dead.
Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up most of the dead. It does not say whether those killed are civilians or combatants.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the territory's population, leaving people there almost completely dependent on international aid. Efforts to broker another truce have been deadlocked for months.
Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the captives are returned and Hamas is defeated or disarmed and exiled.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Convoy of activists on way to Gaza to demand an end to Israeli hostilities
Convoy of activists on way to Gaza to demand an end to Israeli hostilities

Irish Times

time31 minutes ago

  • Irish Times

Convoy of activists on way to Gaza to demand an end to Israeli hostilities

More than 1,000 grassroots activists have begun a 2,400km overland journey across North Africa to Gaza to demand an end to Israel's war and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. The 112-vehicle convoy, which left Tunis on Monday, is expected to swell as it travels through Libya and Egypt. Participants say they have been forced to act as their governments have failed to end the 20-month war between Israel and Hamas. Organisers said the convoy was not bringing aid into Gaza, but rather aimed at carrying out a 'symbolic act' by breaking the blockade on the territory. READ MORE 'This is a message to the people of Gaza: You are not alone,' said Sheikh Yahya Sari of the Algerian Association of Muslim Scholars. 'We share your pain, and this is a form of public pressure against the occupier in the face of international failure to stop the massacres.' Doctors, lawyers, journalists, diplomats, trade unionists and politicians from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania have signed up for the Maghreb Caravan of Steadfastness, which has been organised by the non-profit Co-ordination for Joint Action for Palestine in Tunisia group and several other civil rights organisations. The convoy is being seen as historic in the Maghreb, the western part of the Arab world, which has largely distanced itself from events in Palestine. Morocco normalised relations with Israel in 2000, along with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Mashreq, the eastern Arab world. 'This initiative is aimed [at] all free people of the world to stand against occupation and genocide,' convoy spokesman Wael Naouar told the Tunisian news agency. 'Breaking the blockade is not just about delivering aid. It's also about evacuating the wounded so they can receive medical treatment outside the occupied territories.' The organisers said the convoy's launch 'comes at a time when UN reports indicate the people of Gaza are facing the worst humanitarian disaster in modern times [as] 100 per cent of the Strip's population is food insecure, while more than half of Gaza's population is now homeless after their homes were destroyed.' The caravan will pause in Cairo on Thursday to join forces with the Global March to Gaza, which is being staged by activists from 32 countries, before travelling on Friday to the town of Arish in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. From there, participants will walk the remaining 50km, arriving on Sunday in Rafah, the city straddling the border between Egypt and Gaza. There, diplomats and rights activists are expected to try to negotiate access to Gaza. Conditions in Gaza have worsened dramatically since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023. Israel recently barred the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory for 80 days, bringing the population to the brink of famine, according to international aid organisations. It has since supported an aid delivery system that has been marred by violence and shunned by humanitarian groups.

Protest planned in Israel at marriage of Netanyahu's son
Protest planned in Israel at marriage of Netanyahu's son

Irish Times

time31 minutes ago

  • Irish Times

Protest planned in Israel at marriage of Netanyahu's son

Opponents of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu are planning to demonstrate outside his son's wedding next week. Monday's wedding of Avner Netanyahu (30), the prime minister's youngest son, and Amit Yardeni (27), a cybersecurity researcher, is taking place at Ronit Farm in the centre of the country, one of Israel's plushest event venues. More than 1,000 guests have been invited, prompting criticism in Israel that such an extravagance – while the war in Gaza continues , soldiers are among those being killed and 55 hostages remain in Hamas captivity – underscores the disconnect between the Netanyahu family and the public at large. Activists are discussing several tactics, such as blocking approach roads to the venue, using air horns, drums and loudspeakers to disrupt the event and photographing guests in a 'name-and-shame' campaign. READ MORE The police plan a big operation to allow the wedding to proceed without disruption. Prominent anti-government activist Ami Dror urged the groom to tone down the wedding, launching a scathing attack on the prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu. 'While thousands of reservists got married in wheelchairs, while thousands of families will never get to marry off their children, while the families of the hostages can't sleep at night – you're throwing a ball in the style of Elana Ceaușescu? In the most expensive venue in Israel?' Sources close to the couple say Avner Netanyahu made it clear he doesn't want ministers and members of the Knesset parliament to attend the wedding, reportedly prompting the ire of some leading politicians who consider themselves personal friends of the Netanyahu family. Avner has kept out of the public eye, in sharp contrast to his older brother Yair, who has relocated to Miami but maintains a steady flow of vitriolic social media posts against opponents of his father, the judiciary and the media. Some opponents of the prime minister have warned that the wedding protest may be counterproductive. 'What is clear is that many good people who believe in this protest movement are now deeply conflicted,' wrote Ariela Ringel Hoffman, in the daily Yediot Aharonot newspaper. 'And stunts like this are fuel for the engine that keeps Netanyahu in power – and makes him stronger.'

Frances Black ‘98pc sure' she won't run for presidency
Frances Black ‘98pc sure' she won't run for presidency

Irish Independent

time2 hours ago

  • Irish Independent

Frances Black ‘98pc sure' she won't run for presidency

The Independent senator was speaking as she announced details of a High Court action against the listing of Airbnb properties in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since tabling the Occupied Territories Bill she has been linked to running in the presidential election due to take place later this year. She has told the Irish Independent she is '98pc sure that I won't be running' but is leaving open the two per cent possibility 'because I have a responsibility – if people are coming to me – to consider that.' Asked if she was in discussions with parties of the left about being their agreed candidate, she said: 'Initially they came to me in February. I have had no conversations since. So it has just grown out of all proportion.' If she was to run under a left banner it would 'of course be all parties of the left,' she said, including Sinn Féin. The draft version of the Occupied Territories Bill – first tabled by Senator Black in 2018 to ban trade with Israeli entities based in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – is expected to be published this week. It will be referred to an Oireachtas committee which will hold three meetings to scrutinise it, before being voted on in the Oireachtas. It is unlikely that the current timeframe of being passed before the summer can be met. Ms Black said she is 'absolutely 100pc certain' that it is legally possible to include trade in goods in this Bill. She was speaking at the launch of a set of coordinated legal actions being taken in the US, UK and Ireland targeting Airbnb listings is Israel's illegal settlements in Occupied Palestinian territories. Airbnb has over 300 accommodations listed in illegal settlements and while it previously said they would be removed that decision was since reversed. A number of organisations including the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) as well as the Ireland Palestine Alliance have launched a High Court action challenging 'the refusal of gardaí to investigate Airbnb Ireland and its senior executives for alleged criminal activity in Israeli settlements'. The group said: 'The acts of land appropriation, displacement and transfer of civilian population into occupied territory that facilitate the Israeli settlements are defined as war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law and related Irish legislation.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store