Boat carrying Greta Thunberg to Gaza intercepted by Israeli Navy
Article content
Israeli naval forces on Monday intercepted the vessel carrying Swedish national Greta Thunberg and other activists to the Gaza Strip.
Calling it the 'selfie yacht' of 'celebrities,' Israel's Foreign Ministry said the 12 passengers had been given sandwiches and water and were being safely transported to the shores of the Jewish state. 'The show is over' and the activists will be sent back to their home countries, the ministry said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Greta's flotilla needs a moral compass
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists as she arrives at Stockholm Arlanda Airport outside Stockholm, Sweden, Tuesday June 10, 2025. Photo by Anders Wiklund / AP The hypocrisy of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was once again on full display this week as she set off for Gaza with 11 other celebrity protesters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account As a teenage climate activist, Greta irresponsibly urged students around the world to skip school on Fridays to demonstrate against global environmental policies. Now she's moved on to geopolitics. With a boatload of high-profile activists, Thunberg claimed she was going to deliver aid to Gaza from a sailboat, Madleen. The boat was intercepted by Israeli forces on Monday. They arrived at the port of Ashdod and were taken to Tel Aviv, given sandwiches and water and Thunberg was deported. She later claimed to have been 'kidnapped,' a loathsome allegation, given that, according to the BBC, there are an estimated 54 Israeli hostages believed to be in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to be dead. There would be no conflict in Gaza if Hamas returned them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israel has dismissed the so-called Freedom Flotilla as a 'selfie yacht.' Israeli spokesman David Mencer said the boat was carrying only a 'meagre' amount of aid, which he said would 'of course be sent into Gaza.' He had some pointed questions: 'To poor Greta, we say, who is really feeding Gaza and who is feeding their own ego?' Israeli authorities urged Thunberg to watch a video of the hideous attacks on the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2023, in which young women were brutally raped and hundreds of people murdered. In other attacks on Israeli communities, babies and old people were slaughtered. Thunberg refused to watch. So much for getting both sides of the story. Meanwhile, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Palestinian territories used social media to urge other boats to join the flotilla. 'While Madleen must be released immediately, every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity and humanity to Gaza. They shall sail together — united, they will be unstoppable,' Francesca Albanese posted on X. It's highly irresponsible for a representative of an organization that seeks to find consensus and world peace to take such a one-sided view of the conflict. Who started the war anyway? It's time to call out Thunberg for what she is: A self-serving publicity-seeker, and her mission for what it was: A stunt. Celebrity NHL Editorial Cartoons Toronto Maple Leafs Music
Toronto Star
3 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Israel says it has recovered the remains of 2 more hostages held in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli forces have recovered the remains of two additional hostages held in Gaza, the office of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. One of the hostages, Yair Yaakov was killed on Oct. 7, 2023, during Hamas' attack on southern Israel and his body was taken into Gaza. The identity of the second hostage whose body was recovered was not immediately disclosed.
Toronto Star
3 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Poll suggests half of Canadians believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests that nearly half of Canadians believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza almost two years after the current conflict began. In a survey conducted last weekend, the polling firm Leger asked Canadians and Americans a series of questions about the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Middle East More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, Gaza health officials say Wafaa Shurafa And Fatma Khaled The Associated Press Leger surveyed 1,511 Canadians and 1,011 Americans between June 6 and June 8. The poll cannot be assigned a margin of error because online surveys are not considered truly random samples. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The polling comes as the federal government is under pressure to take concrete steps to condemn Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank. Leger asked respondents whether they 'agree or disagree that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip' based on how they 'define what constitutes a genocide.' The UN declared genocide a crime under international law in 1946. The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines it as acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. That can include killing members of the group, causing them serious injury, deliberately inflicting conditions that can be dangerous to their lives, imposing measures to prevent births within the group, or forcibly transferring children from the group to another group. Just less than half of the Canadian respondents, 49 per cent, said they agree that Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, including 23 per cent who said they strongly agree and 26 per cent who said they somewhat agree. Another 21 per cent said they disagree with the claim that Israel is committing genocide — 10 per cent said they somewhat disagree and 11 per cent said they strongly disagree. The remaining 30 per cent said they didn't know or refused to answer. Conservative supporters were the least likely to say they believe Israel is committing genocide, with 37 per cent agreeing with the statement and 33 per cent disagreeing. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW More than 60 per cent of Liberal, NDP, Green Party and Bloc Québécois supporters said they agree Israel's actions amount to genocide. The poll was conducted just days before the Canadian government took action against Israeli cabinet ministers it accuses of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. On Tuesday, a group of five countries including Canada announced sanctions against Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. The five countries accused the ministers of calling for the displacement of Palestinians and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Last month, an open letter from Prime Minister Mark Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israeli military operations in Gaza and called the level of suffering in the territory 'intolerable.' The letter threatened concrete actions if the Israeli government did not allow more food aid into Gaza and end its military operations there. It also called on Hamas to release its remaining hostages. In response to the genocide question, 38 per cent of Americans polled said they agree Israel is committing genocide, while 26 per cent said they disagree and 36 per cent said they don't know. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Supporters of the Democrats - 52 per cent - and Americans under the age of 35 - 53 per cent - were the most likely to call the situation in Gaza a genocide. More than half of Canadians, 54 per cent, said they don't follow news about the Middle East or the current conflict in the Gaza Strip. Just nine per cent said they're following news about the Gaza conflict very closely, and another 35 per cent said they're following somewhat closely. American respondents reported almost the same levels of engagement. Despite that, 49 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of American respondents said they feel they have a very good or fairly good understanding of the conflict in Gaza. Opinions on mainstream media reporting about the conflict were evenly split, with 20 per cent of Canadian respondents saying they feel the media has been 'generally balanced.' Another 20 per cent said they feel the coverage has been more favourable toward Palestinians and 21 per cent said it was more favourable to Israel. American respondents reported almost identical responses. Many Canadians surveyed were pessimistic about the possibility of a peaceful resolution. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW When asked whether they believe that lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians can be reached, 41 per cent of Canadian respondents said no, 28 per cent said yes and 31 per cent said they don't know. Canadian respondents over age 55 were the least optimistic — 51 per cent of them said a lasting peace cannot be achieved. Americans were more evenly split, with 34 per cent saying they think peace is out of reach and 33 per cent saying it can be achieved. The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. — With files from David Baxter This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Yes, I'd also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star. 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. Politics Headlines Newsletter You're signed up! You'll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
