Greta Thunberg's aid mission ‘publicity stunt' had no ‘real intentions'
Former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus discusses the Greta Thunberg-led aid mission to Gaza, which was intercepted by the Israeli military.
'This is nothing more than a publicity stunt – I am very happy it ended peacefully,' Mr Conricus told Sky News Australia.
'It is ill-informed, and I don't think they had real intentions of doing anything meaningful.'
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The Age
19 minutes ago
- The Age
Israel orders Greta Thunberg be shown October 7 video while in detention
US President Donald Trump dismissed the statement: 'I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,' he said. 'She's a young, angry person ... I think she has to go to an anger management class.' He made a similar remark about the then 16-year-old activist in 2019. Israel has dismissed the aid ship as a stunt, with its Foreign Ministry labelling the boat 'the selfie yacht'. 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. Israel said the aid on board would be sent to Gaza through established channels, and circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel offering sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing life vests. It also published a photo of Thunberg on social media after she disembarked. After an 11-week total blockade aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing some basic aid into Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers and experts say it is not enough and have warned of famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive. The United Nations said on Monday that it has only been able to bring minimal flour into Gaza and most aid has been looted by armed gangs or taken by starving Palestinians. Loading Palestinians also said Israeli forces and local gunmen working near the soldiers had fired on Monday towards a crowd heading to a new Israeli-backed aid distribution centre in the Gaza Strip, with Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry and local hospitals saying 14 people were killed. Dozens of people have died in shootings over the past two weeks while attempting to get aid from new centres run by a controversial new aid group backed by the US and Israel, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The United Nations and other aid groups have refused to work with the group, citing humanitarian concerns. Thunberg and the other activists were expected to be held at a detention facility in the city of Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, a legal rights group representing them, which said that Israel had no legal authority to take over the ship and it breached international law. An attempt by Freedom Flotilla last month to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group's vessels was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta, organisers said. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the ship's front section. Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, was among the volunteers on board the latest boat to be intercepted. She has been barred from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies towards the Palestinians. She was among six French citizens aboard. French President Emmanuel Macron asked Israel to allow them to return to France as soon as possible, his office said in a statement. Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the crew and passengers were aware of the risks and that her ministry has advised against travel to Gaza for a decade and people who disregard that have a clear personal responsibility, Swedish news agency TT reported. Stenergard said the ministry's assessment was that no one on board was in danger and there was no need for consular support. 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 October 7, 2023, but later relented under US 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 about 1200 people, mostly civilians, in the October 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half are 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. Loading The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced about 90 per cent 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.
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
Donald Trump takes aim at ‘angry' Greta Thunberg's claim she was kidnapped by Israeli forces
Donald Trump has unleashed on Greta Thunberg after her so-called 'Freedom Flotilla' loaded with humanitarian aid was seized by Israeli commandos as it tried to break through a blockade of Gaza. The US President said the notorious activist needed to go to an 'anger management' class. Ms Thunberg, 22, is being held in an Israeli detention camp with a number of others where they will be held until they face court, according to her lawyer. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has said that passengers on what it calls the 'Selfie Yacht' will be returned to their home countries. Anyone who refused to sign deportation documents and leave Israel would be brought before a judicial authority. Mr Trump was clearly unimpressed with Ms Thunberg's claim she had been 'kidnapped' when asked about the incident. 'Well, she's a strange person,' Mr Trump said. 'She's a young, angry person. I don't know if it's real anger – it's hard to believe actually. But I saw what happened. She's certainly different. Anger management. I think she has to go to an anger management class. That's my primary recommendation for her. 'She said she was kidnapped by Israel? I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,' Mr Trump said. Ms Thunberg was on board a vessel named Madleen, which was planning to deliver aid to people in Gaza after setting sail from Sicily, when Israeli forces boarded it. In a video released after her arrest Ms Thunberg said: 'My name is Greta Thunberg, and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we are being intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel,' the Swedish activist said. After being taken into custody Ms Thunberg and other activists refused to watch a 45-minute video of the Hamas atrocities committed during the October 7, 2023 attack. 'Greta (Thunberg) and her flotilla companions were taken into a room upon their arrival for a screening of the horror film of the October 7 massacre, and when they saw what it was about, they refused to continue watching,' Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said. 'The antisemitic flotilla members are turning a blind eye to the truth and have proven once again that they prefer the murderers to the murdered and continue to ignore the atrocities committed by Hamas against Jewish and Israeli women, adults, and children,' he added. David Mencer, a spokesperson fro the Israeli government, said Thunberg's actions were 'publicity stunt', more about raising her profile than providing aid to Palestinians. 'Greta wasn't bringing aid, she was bringing herself,' he said. 'And she's not here for Gaza; let's be blunt about it, she's here for Greta. 'She's alienated half the world with her crying wolf and now she's looking for her next bandwagon. This was a PR stunt sailing under the flag of moral vanity.'
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
LA Democrats want Trump to ‘defy the law' and not enforce immigration policy
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