Israel diverts Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

News.com.au

8 hours ago

Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on Monday, preventing the activists on board -- including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg -- from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.
The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the "hungriest place on Earth". After 21 months of war, the UN warns the entire population is at risk of famine.
At around 4:02 am (0102 GMT), Israeli forces "forcibly intercepted" the vessel in international waters as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.
"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.
Footage from the group shows the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with one of them saying nobody was injured prior to the interception.
Israel's foreign ministry wrote on social media, "all the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed," adding that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
Turkey condemned the interception of the Madleen as a "heinous attack" in international waters. Iran also denounced it as "a form of piracy", citing the same grounds.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, a commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.
On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
- 'Risked their lives' for food -
The boat was intercepted about 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.
It recently allowed some 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.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a GHF-run site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza.
Abdallah Nour al-Din, a witness, said "the Israeli army opened fire" on people who had started gathering at the site in the early morning.
The Israeli military said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings.
- Sinwar -
The GHF said there had been no incidents "at any of our three sites" on Sunday.
Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.
"I can't see you like this," said Lin al-Daghma by her father's body.
She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after the two-months Israeli blockade, despite the recent easing.
At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site "because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families".
Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an "underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis", in southern Gaza.
The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.
Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.
After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.
The military said that alongside Sinwar's body, forces had found "additional intelligence" at the Khan Yunis site "underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room".