A convoy sets off for Gaza from North Africa to protest Israel's blockade
TUNIS, Tunisia — A convoy of buses and private cars departed for Gaza from Tunisia's capital Monday as part of efforts to spotlight Israel's blockade on humanitarian aid to the territory, even as Israeli authorities stopped a high-profile flotilla from landing there.
The overland effort — organized independently but moved up to coincide with the flotilla — is made up of activists, lawyers and medical professionals from North Africa. It plans to traverse Tunisia, Libya and Egypt before reaching Rafah, the border crossing with Egypt that has remained largely closed since Israel's military took control of the Gaza side in May 2024.
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Yahoo
18 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Madleen boat seized by Israel forces: What to know
(NewsNation) — Israeli forces said on Monday they seized a Gaza-bound aid boat and several people who were on board. The voyage on the Madleen had set out to protest Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip by a group of activists. The seizure of the ship was the result of a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war. This latest development opens up a whole new discussion to be had. What is the Madleen, and who are the key organizations? What were the consequences of the interception for the activists onboard? What are the potential outcomes of the IDF's actions against the flotilla? The Madleen is a boat used by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which set out on a week-long voyage from Sicily, Italy, to protest Israel's ongoing military operations in the Gaza Strip. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from different parts of the world, all working together to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. Several of its founding groups include the Free Gaza Movement, European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, and İHH İnsani Yardım Vakfı. Palestinians say Israeli fire kills 12 near aid sites. Israel says it fired warning shots Greta Thunberg was one of the 12 activists on board the Madleen who were detained. Thunberg is a Swedish climate campaigner. Along with her was Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, and Brazil's Thiago Ávila. Hassan had been previously barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. The boat had also stopped last week to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by the Libyan coast guard. All 12 activists who were aboard the Madleen were detained by Israel's Foreign Ministry. Reports from Israeli media indicated that the Madleen and its crew members were being taken to the port city of Ashdod. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said all the activists would be returned to their home countries without harm. Israel says it has recovered the bodies of 2 Israeli-American hostages from the Gaza Strip On Sunday, the IFM made assurances that it would halt the 'Madleen from reaching the Gaza Strip. They also acknowledged that the humanitarian aid on the boat would be sent to Gaza through established channels. With the Freedom Flotilla unable to reach Gaza, the possible outcome of those people in need in the area getting the aid they need only shows more difficulty ahead. Spain and Turkey officials condemned Israel for the seizure of the vessel, saying, 'This heinous act by the Netanyahu government, which threatens the freedom of navigation and maritime security, once again demonstrates that Israel is acting as a terror state.' Hamas seeks amendments to Gaza ceasefire proposal but US envoy calls it 'unacceptable' The Freedom Flotilla last month attempted to reach Gaza by sea but 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, including the damage caused to the front section of the ship. Israel previously had started allowing basic aid into Gaza last month after a nearly three-month blockade, They were warned by humanitarian workers and experts of famine if the blockade and its military offensive continued. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
32 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Gaza-bound aid boat with Greta Thunberg on board arrives in Israel after its seizure
JERUSALEM (AP) — A Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists arrived at an Israeli port Monday after Israeli forces stopped and detained them — enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the Israel-Hamas war. The boat, accompanied by Israel's navy, arrived in Ashdod in the evening, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. It published a photo on social media of Thunberg after disembarking. The 12 activists were undergoing medical checks to ensure they are in good health, the ministry said. They were expected to be held at a detention facility in Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, a legal rights group representing them. The activists had set out to protest Israel's military campaign in Gaza, which is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. Both have put the territory of around 2 million Palestinians at risk of famine . The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the voyage, said the activists were 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' while trying to deliver desperately needed aid. '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. It said the ship was seized in international waters about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Gaza, and Adalah asserted that Israel had 'no legal authority' to take it over. Israel's Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that 'the 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.' It said the activists would return to their home countries and the aid would be sent to Gaza through established channels. It circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing life vests. Israel says boat was carrying minimal aid Israeli officials said the flotilla carried what amounted to less than a truckload of aid. 'This wasn't humanitarian aid. It's Instagram activism,' Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said. 'Meanwhile, Israel has delivered over 1,200 truckloads in the last two weeks. So who's really feeding Gaza and who's really feeding their own ego? Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself.' After its 2 1/2-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. About 600 trucks of aid entered daily during the ceasefire that Israel ended in March. An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after two drones attacked the vessel in international waters off Malta, organizers said. The group blamed Israel for the attack , which damaged the ship's front section. Rights group questions Israel's seizure The Madleen set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by Libya'a 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 prerecorded message released after the ship was halted. Adalah, the rights group, said in a statement that 'the arrest of the unarmed activists, who operated in a civilian manner to provide humanitarian aid, amounts to a serious breach of international law.' Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was among those on board. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies toward the Palestinians. She was among six French citizens on board. French President Emmanuel Macron called for consular protection and the repatriation of the French citizens. 'Most of all, France calls for a ceasefire as quickly as possible and the lifting of the humanitarian blockade. This is a scandal, unacceptable, that is playing out in Gaza. What's been happening since early March is a disgrace, a disgrace,' Macron said Next week, Macron co-hosts a conference at the U.N. on a two-state solution and recently said France should move toward recognizing a Palestinian state. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the crew and passengers were aware of the risks, Swedish news agency TT reported. Stenergard said the ministry's assessment is that no one was in danger and there was no need for consular support. An 18-year blockade on Gaza Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a 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 off Gaza from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. 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 Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half believed to be dead. Israel's military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said that women and children make up most of the dead. The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced around 90% of the population, leaving people 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. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the captives are returned and Hamas is defeated, or disarmed and exiled. ___ Associated Press journalists Angela Charlton in Paris, Leo Correa in Ashdod, Israel, Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report. ____ Follow AP's war coverage at Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. 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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Left-wing activists like Greta Thunberg care more about fame than facts
As yet, Greta Thunberg has not had her money shot. In terms of Insta-activism, her seafaring jaunt to deliver aid to Gaza has been farcical. It was always going to be. First, let me say two things clearly. I totally support more aid going into Gaza: food and medicine are needed. I want us to stop selling arms to Israel. While I support the right of Israel to exist, I do not support its right to keep on killing the people of Gaza. It's unbearable. But the last thing the Israel-Gaza conflict needs is more martyrs, especially cute eco-warriors in short skirts. It also doesn't need hypocrites – particularly ones who also claim to champion women's rights. The great irony is that Greta, with her exposed legs, dissenting views and freedom to express them, would not be tolerated by Hamas. But clearly that's by the by. When it comes to the moral high road, the likes of Thunberg seek to occupy ALL of it, no matter how muddled the thinking. This is precisely the problem. Pretending you can sail into a war zone and 'help' is a grandiose delusion. But, of course, Greta and her 'aid boat' were largely a symbolic protest. What matters above all are the images of the selfie-yacht and the attention they can garner. Being boarded and detained (or, as she puts it, 'kidnapped') by Israeli forces gave her exactly what she had hoped for to kick against. But unfortunately for Thunberg, who had handily pre-recorded a video for just such an event, the actual image of the 'kidnap' is her smiling as she is being handed a pastrami sandwich by an Israeli soldier. This image will forever be compared with the horror show of the actual kidnap of hostages by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups. There are girls younger than Greta, with bloodied pants, their Achilles tendons cut; a mother clutching her two red-haired children whom we now know are dead; a terrified old lady being abducted. It is said that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will force Thunberg and her crew to watch the brutal footage recorded on October 7. I doubt this will make much difference. In 2023, the IDF showed Hamas body cam footage collected after the Nova festival attack to the press in London. Most of the viewers were in tears but certain activist 'journalists' came out saying there was no proof of women being raped as they had not been shown that. Thunberg, like so many of her generation wrapped up in their made-in-China keffiyehs, are not interested in the specifics of this conflict. This is what happens when a young girl with a penchant for protest becomes too feted. She addressed national parliaments and Davos as a climate activist and was interviewed everywhere, so she must have grasped the fact that her youth and passion energised many. Unsurprisingly, then, her symbolic power was soon commodified as she appeared at protest after protest, morphing effortlessly from climate change activism to Palestinian solidarity. Political activism is now algorithmic. Hey, if you liked that cause, then try this one. The 'Left' these days often seems little more than a collection of disparate causes: eco stuff, trans rights and Free Palestine. The contradictions between these beliefs are underplayed as they become bundled together as an omnicause. I first heard that word used in 2023. The omnicause can incorporate everything from animal rights to emptying the jails. Forget the single issues that require specific, often boring campaigning: the omnicause is a moronic vacuum where analysis goes to die. It is a product partly of the horizontalisation of social media. By this, I mean that something such as Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police, which had relevance in America a few years ago, gets picked up here… even though we have a quite different population and methods of policing. Those protesting what is happening in Gaza are not all uninformed, but many are. Younger people recruited from Just Stop Oil (and now presenting as Youth Demand) have stopped soup-throwing in favour of this new pressing cause. But they have not talked about famine in Yemen or the atrocities of Sudan. Interconnectedness has its limits, after all. There may well be links between climate change and war. Many argue that drought was a factor in the unrest that led to the Syrian civil war. The omnicause, though, does not do specifics. It favours symbolic demonstrations that can go viral. These simplistic spectacles of righteousness often backfire. What did Fossil Free Books achieve, for instance? It decided to campaign against companies that had any connection to Israel. The result was that investment firms such as Baillie Gifford stopped funding book festivals. How this helped either the environment or indeed the Palestinian cause is something of a mystery. Thunberg's stunt has been similarly self-aggrandising and vacuous. Watching footage of this climate activist and her mates all chucking their expensive phones into the sea as they were about to be taken by the Israelis showed that, of course, when the chips were down, environmental concerns went out of the window. The omnicause does not require logic, consistency or even coherence. It is closer to acting than activism. It depends on melodrama and a narrative of provocative images. Thunberg may be brave and have been prepared to sacrifice herself – though for what, exactly, I am not sure. But now we have seen the pictures, I am afraid that what she has sacrificed has been her integrity. The omnicause burns itself out in the end because it has no actual strategy. It simply signifies tribal loyalty. It gobbles everything up and spits out its participants, who simply move on to the next 'wrong' thing. You might think that, for Thunberg, her ship has sailed. But that does not mean she won't clamber aboard the next one that hoves into view. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
