‘Kidnapped': Thunberg's wild claims after Israel stops boat
The so-called Freedom Flotilla — in support of Palestinian freedom in Gaza and carrying activist Greta Thunberg — has been halted forcibly by the Israeli Defence Force.
The vessel, named Madleen, is carrying 12 activists including the Swedish climate campaigner and has been stopped in accordance with the Israeli Government's statement on Sunday that it would 'not reach Gaza'.
Ms Thunberg has released a statement on social media stating that if the Swedish Government was seeing the video, she and her crew had been 'intercepted and kidnapped' by the IDF.
'If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israel occupational forces or forces that support Israel,' Ms Thunberg said.
'I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure in the Swedish Government to release me and the others as soon as possible.'
Other communications filtering out from the Madleen described the tactics used by the vessels intercepting the boat as it drew nearer to the Gaza coast.
'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 crew on board the Madleen said on Instagram and X.
Israel has been scathing in its assessment on the reasoning behind the flotilla's journey, and had issued the strongest possible warnings to the ships crew that they would be met with force if necessary to curtail their efforts to reach the war-torn region. Activist Greta Thunberg and here crew are set to be stopped by Israeli forces on their way to Gaza. Credit: X.
'Two drones over the Madleen. They say they are quadcopters, the dangerous ones. TEAM IS TAKING COVER,' UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese posted on X.
Yasemin Acar, a German activist who is on board the Madleen, said that four vessels have surrounded the Madleen and a further two are circling in waters close by.
'We are very close to Gaza, approximately 100 miles away,' Mr Acar said.
'We sounded the alarm because we saw exactly four vessels approaching us all at the same time, two of which had blue lights.
'We had many lights suddenly surrounding us.'
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz told the military on Sunday to stop the charity boat carrying activists, including Sweden's Greta Thunberg, who were planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza after the British-flagged Madleen set sail from Sicily on June 6.
'I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen ... does not reach Gaza,' Katz said in a statement.
'To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You'd better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza.'
Israel's war with Hamas which has been raging since the October 2023 attacks by Islamist militants in southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have reportedly died during the Israeli assault and recently the UN warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula according to statements from the group prior to their departure.
There are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media reported that the military planned to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
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