Greta Thunberg and her 'freedom flotilla' crew 'are forced to watch video of Hamas October 7 atrocities after Gaza-bound aid boat was boarded by IDF - as Israel condemns 'selfie yacht' stunt
The crew of activists sailing to Gaza will be forced to watch a video of Hamas ' October 7 atrocities after being intercepted by the IDF, Israel 's defence minister said.
Israel Katz congratulated the military on its 'quick and safe takeover' of the Madleen after Israeli commandos seized the vessel in international waters overnight.
The group of 12, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, faced a terrifying night on the Mediterranean, shadowed by speedboats and drones, before being stopped.
Israel, which had said last week it would prevent the group from reaching Gaza with a symbolic gesture of aid, said the crew would be taken to the Israeli Port of Ashdod.
Katz said the crew would there be shown 'the video of the horrors' of the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
He said it was 'appropriate' the crew see 'what atrocities [Hamas] committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itself'.
The video reportedly contains 43 minutes of 'uncensored' footage of 'people being massacred and bodies mutilated during the onslaught', per the Times of Israel.
After diverting the boat, Israel's foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches.
The foreign ministry derided what it called the 'selfie yacht' carrying 'celebrity' activists, saying the aid onboard would be transferred to Gaza through what it called 'real humanitarian channels'.
On Sunday, Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 aiming to bring awareness to 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.
At around 3:02 am CET (0102 GMT) on Sunday, Israel 'forcibly intercepted' the vessel as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said in a statement.
'If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,' Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the coalition.
The Israeli government had vowed to prevent the 'unauthorised' ship from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.
The FFC had said earlier that the ship had come 'under assault in international waters'.
'Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white paint-like substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,' the coalition wrote on Telegram.
Activist Yasmin Acar shared video from the vessel showing a white substance on the deck. She said it had been dropped on the Madleen.
Acar was later heard saying it was affecting her eyes. It was unclear what the substance was.
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' of 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.
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 (ICJ).'
Israel's foreign ministry stressed in a statement today that all crew members were 'safe and unharmed'.
It said that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
'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 added.
'While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.
'There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies.
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 (GHF).
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.
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