Israel used drones to 'spray irritant substance' over Greta Thunberg's 'freedom flotilla' before boarding and detaining the activists - who will be 'made to watch footage of Hamas October 7 atrocities'
Israel used drones to spray an irritant substance on Greta Thunberg's 'freedom flotilla' before boarding and detaining the activists, the organising group has claimed.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the ship was surrounded and sprayed with a 'white irritant substance' shortly before the IDF descended overnight.
'Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,' the coalition wrote on Telegram, assessing that the Madleen had come 'under assault' in international waters.
Images showed the deck splattered with an unidentified white liquid. Activist Yasmin Acar, among the 12 on board, said it had been deployed by Israel and was affecting her eyes.
Israel 'forcibly intercepted' the British-flagged vessel at 3.02am local time this morning, some 100 miles from the coast of Gaza, the FFC said in a statement.
The crew, including climate activist Thunberg, had spent the night on the Mediterranean Sea, shadowed by speedboats and drones, before being intercepted.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz argued the blockade - in place for years - was needed to prevent militants importing weapons into Gaza.
He congratulated the military on its 'quick and safe takeover' of the ship this morning after Israeli commandos seized the vessel.
After diverting the boat, Israel's foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches.
Katz said that the crew were safe and unharmed, and would be taken to the Israeli Port of Ashdod where they would be shown a video of Hamas 's October 7 atrocities.
Activist Yasmin Acar, among the 12 on board, said it had been deployed by Israel and was affecting her eyes
In comments shared on social media today, Katz said it was 'appropriate' the crew now see 'what atrocities [Hamas] committed against women, the elderly and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself'.
The video of Hamas' attacks reportedly contains 43 minutes of 'uncensored' footage of 'people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught', according to the Times of Israel.
The Israeli foreign ministry also derided what it called the 'selfie yacht' carrying 'celebrity' activists, adding that the aid onboard would be transferred to Gaza through what it called 'real humanitarian channels'.
The 12 activists had left Italy on June 1, aiming to bring awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the UN has called the 'hungriest place on Earth', after 21 months of war.
The UN has warned the territory's entire population is at risk of famine.
But the Israeli government had vowed to prevent the 'unauthorised' Madleen from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.
The FFC had said earlier that the ship had come 'under assault' miles from Gaza - in international waters - and was being sprayed with an unidentified white substance.
'Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance,' the coalition wrote on Telegram.
'Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio.'
Huwaida Arraf, the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, told Al Jazeera that crew members had said their eyes were burning from the substance.
'We don't know what that chemical was. Some people reported that their eyes were burning,' they said.
After losing communication with the vessel, the FFC posted pre-recorded videos from the crew.
In her video, Thunberg said: 'If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel.'
The FFC said that Israel had acted with 'total impunity'.
It said that the cargo, containing baby formula, food and medical supplies, had been 'confiscated'.
Israel said that the aid on board would be 'transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels'.
The foreign ministry stressed that all crew members were 'safe and unharmed'. It said that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser, pushed back: 'Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen.'
'This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the (International Court of Justice's) binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.'
Israel has come under criticism for apprehending the group of activists in international waters.
Francesca Albanese, the UN's Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said the British government must 'urgently seek full clarification' about the ship's status and work to 'secure the immediate release' of the vessel and crew.
'The Madleen must be allowed to continue its lawful humanitarian mission to Gaza,' she said.
MailOnline approached the Foreign Office for comment.
Protestors amassed outside the FCDO offices in London today. One held a sign that read: 'Israel attacks UK boat. UK does nothing.'
Ellie Chowns, Green Party Foreign Affairs spokeswoman and MP for North Herefordshire, said: 'The UK Government cannot remain silent while international waters are turned into a battleground and humanitarian actors are criminalised.
'The forced interception of the Madleen, a British-flagged vessel, is utterly unacceptable. Unarmed civilian crew were seized by Israeli military forces while sailing in international waters, their life-saving cargo taken, and international law trampled.
'I echo the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's demands: the immediate release of these civilians, unfettered delivery of vital baby formula, food and medical supplies to Gaza, and full accountability for these flagrant violations.'
An Israeli officer at the Super Nova Festival in Re'im, Israel, after it was attacked by Hamas on October 7, 2023
The Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen, organised by the international NGO Freedom Flotilla Coalition, anchored off Catania, Italy, on June 1
Critics have branded the interception 'state piracy' and condemned the lack of action from the crew members' respective governments.
Mouin Rabbani, a non-resident fellow at the Qatar-based Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, told Al Jazeera: 'This is not only an act of state piracy. It's in direct violation of the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.'
Spain summoned Israel's charge d'affaires in protest of the interception, according to El Pais, citing a source at the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
French Foreign Minister Jeal-Noel Barrot said France wants to 'facilitate the rapid return' of six French nationals travelling with the group.
Turkey slammed Israel for the interception, describing it as a 'heinous attack'.
'The intervention by Israeli forces on the 'Madleen' ship.. while sailing in international waters is a clear violation of international law,' it said, describing it as a 'heinous attack' by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Turkey's foreign ministry said there were Turkish nationals among those on board, without identifying them. The Freedom Flotilla's website said the boat was carrying 12 people from seven countries, including Turkey.
'The international community's justified reaction to Israel's genocidal policies, which use hunger as a weapon in Gaza and prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, will continue,' the ministry added, saying Israel would manage to 'silence the voices defending human values'.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.
It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.
It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.
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