Greta Thunberg 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' in international waters while carrying aid for Gaza
Greta Thunberg 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' in international waters while carrying aid for GazaFreedom Flotilla Coalition
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Madleen route tracker: Greta Thunberg's aid boat to Gaza boarded by Israel
A flotilla carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg on a weeklong journey to Gaza has been boarded by Israeli military forces and transported to Israel. The 12-person Madleen vessel was intercepted off the coast of Gaza in the early hours of Monday, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) that manages the boat. In a statement on social media, they said Israeli forces had 'rammed and boarded' the vessel. An hour earlier, they claimed they were 'drones overhead'. 'Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance,' the FFC wrote on Telegram. 'Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio.' Israeli officials said the group would be taken to the port of Ashdod, from where they would return to their home countries. Israel Katz, the country's defence minister, said he had instructed the military to show the flotilla passengers videos of the 7 October massacres when they arrive in Israel. He claimed it was necessary for 'Greta and her fellow Hamas supporters to see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organisation they came to support and for whom they work is, what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself'. The FFC posted a video appearing to show the moment the ship was intercepted. They have since posted pre-recorded SOS videos from all 12 crew members calling for their respective governments to help secure their release. The Israeli foreign ministry also posted footage of the aftermath of the interception, including pictures of the military handing out food and water to the crew. The Madleen ship and its crew of 12 volunteers set off from Catania, Sicily on 1 June, carrying a nominal amount of humanitarian aid. The FFC said the trip was aimed at trying 'to break Israel's more than 17-year illegal and inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip'. The ship's location was being monitored live by Forensic Architecture, using a Garmin live tracker on board, but that tracker has since been switched off. Named after Gaza's only female fisher, the vessel is carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan, among others. Ms Thunberg shot to notoriety in 2018 when she decided to skip school as a 15-year-old in an attempt to persuade the Swedish parliament to take more action on climate change. Speaking aboard the Madleen, Ms Thunberg told Middle East Eye: 'We have promised ourselves and we have promised the Palestinian people to do everything we can. 'When our governments are failing us … then it falls on us to step up and be the adults in the room. 'We are just human beings, very concerned about what's happening, and do not accept what is going on.' The other activists on board the vessel are: Yasemin Acar (Germany), Baptiste Andre (France), Thiago Avila (Brazil), Omar Faiad (France), Pascal Maurieras (France) Yanis Mhamdi (France) Suayb Ordu (Turkiye), Sergio Toribio (Spain) Marco van Rennes (The Netherlands) and Reva Viard (France). The FFC said the boat intended to spend at least seven days travelling to Gaza to break the naval blockade that has been in place since 2007. There were concerns that the boat may be attacked. Last month, another vessel operated by the FFC, the Conscience, was reportedly bombed by drones off Malta en route to Gaza. Ms Thunberg said at the time that she planned to board the boat in Malta. The FFC accused Israel of carrying out the attacks. Israel did not respond to those accusations. On 3 June, the FFC said that an Israel-made Hellenic Coastguard drone (IAI Heron UAV) was seen hovering over the Madleen. In a statement shared on social media, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said: 'At 11:12pm CEST+1, 68km away from Greek territorial waters, a drone began to hover above the 'Madleen'. The drone is no longer there.'
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel blocks arrival of activist ship carrying Thunberg in Gaza
Israel blocked a sailing ship carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists from entering the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Monday. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's (FFC) ship Madleen was "safely making its way to the shores of Israel." "The passengers are expected to return to their home countries," the ministry said in a post on X. In a statement, the FFC said the Madleen had "been attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military" in international waters. "The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies — confiscated," the FFC said in a statement. FFC organizer Huwaida Arraf said Israel had no legal authority to detain those aboard the ship. "These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade — their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately,' Arraf said. "We are undeterred. We will sail again. We will not stop until the siege ends and Palestine is free," the FFC said. Ahead of the ship's arrival, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz had ordered the armed forces to prevent the arrival of the Madleen, which set sail from Sicily a week ago. Addressing Thunberg and the 11 other activists on board, Katz said: "You should turn back because you will not reach Gaza."
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg, officials say
Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg, officials say Show Caption Hide Caption Climate activist Greta Thunberg sets sail for Gaza to deliver aid "We have to keep trying." Climate activist Greta Thunberg set sail to deliver aid to Gaza just weeks after a similar mission was thwarted by bombs. JERUSALEM, June 9 (Reuters) - Israeli forces have taken command of a charity vessel that had tried to break a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and the boat with its crew of 12 including activist Greta Thunberg is now heading to a port in Israel, officials said on Sunday. The British-flagged yacht Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was aiming to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there. However, the boat was boarded during the night before it could reach shore, the FFC said on its Telegram account. The Israeli Foreign Ministry later confirmed that it was under Israeli control. More: US vetoes UN Security Council demand for Gaza ceasefire "The 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries," the ministry wrote on X. All passengers were safe and unharmed, the ministry later added. "They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over." Among the 12-strong crew are Swedish climate campaigner Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. "The crew of the Freedom Flotilla was arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2 a.m.," Hassan posted on X. A photograph showed the crew seated on the boat, all wearing life jackets, with their hands in the air. More: Greta Thunberg sailing to Gaza on aid ship after drone attack setback The yacht is carrying a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula. The Foreign Ministry said it would be taken to Gaza. "The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the 'celebrities' will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels," it wrote. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military on Sunday to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza, calling the mission a propaganda effort in support of Hamas. Israel imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave after Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. The blockade has remained in place through multiple conflicts, including the current war, which began after a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that killed more than 1,200 people, according to an Israeli tally. Gaza's health ministry says over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel's military campaign. The United Nations has warned that most of Gaza's more than 2 million residents are facing famine. The Israeli government says the blockade is essential to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas. The United Nations' special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has supported the FFC operation and on Sunday, urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade. "Madleen's journey may have ended, but the mission isn't over. Every Mediterranean port must send boats with aid & solidarity to Gaza," she wrote on X. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer, Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray; Editing by Richard Chang and Lincoln Feast.)
