Latest news with #JackGuez
Japan Today
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg reaches Israeli port
The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip By Jack Guez and Benoit Finck A Gaza-bound aid boat reached Israel's Ashdod port on Monday after being intercepted by Israeli forces, preventing the dozen activists on board including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. An AFP photographer said that the Madleen, which organizers said was intercepted in international waters overnight, reached the port north of Gaza at around 8:45 p.m., escorted by the Israeli navy. The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in the Gaza Strip, which the United Nations has called the "hungriest place on Earth". After more than 20 months of war, triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the U.N. has warned that Gaza's entire population is at risk of famine. At around 4:02 a.m. on Monday, Israeli troops "forcibly intercepted" the vessel as it approached Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said. "If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped," Thunberg said in pre-recorded footage shared by the coalition. Video 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, in a post on social media, said "all the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed", adding it expected the activists to return to their home countries. Turkey condemned the interception as a "heinous attack" and Iran denounced it as "a form of piracy" in international waters. In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, an Israeli commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach the naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead. On Sunday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place for years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons. The Madleen was intercepted about 185 kilometers west of the coast of Gaza, according to coordinates from the coalition. President Emmanuel Macron requested that the six French nationals aboard the boat "be allowed to return to France as soon as possible", a presidential official said. Two of them are journalists, Omar Fayyad of Qatar-based Al Jazeera and Yanis Mhamdi who works for online publication Blast, according to media rights group Reporters Without Borders, which condemned their detention and called for their "immediate release". Al Jazeera "categorically denounces the Israeli incursion", the network said in a statement, demanding the reporter's release. Adalah, an Israeli NGO offering legal support for the country's Arab minority, said the activists on board the Madleen had requested its services, and that the group was likely to be taken to a detention centre before being deported. Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies. In what organizers called a "symbolic act", hundreds of people launched a land convoy on Monday from Tunisia with the aim of reaching Gaza. Israel recently allowed some deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. But humanitarian agencies have criticized 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. In Gaza City on Monday, displaced Palestinian Umm Mohammed Abu Namous told AFP that she hopes "that all nations stand with us and help us, and that we receive 10 boats instead of one". "We are innocent people," she said. "Our children are dying of hunger... We do not want to lose more children because of hunger." The Hamas attack that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 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 U.N. considers these figures reliable. Out of 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack, 54 are still held in Gaza including 32 the Israeli military says are dead. © 2025 AFP
IOL News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- IOL News
Turkey condemns Israel's interception of Gaza-bound aid boat, Madleen
Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat on June 9, preventing the activists on board from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. Image: Jack Guez/ AFP Turkey slammed Israel for intercepting a Gaza-bound boat carrying activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg early on Monday, describing it as a "heinous attack". The Madleen left Italy on June 1 to raise awareness over food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has described as the "hungriest place on Earth", with the entire population at risk of famine. "The intervention by Israeli forces on the 'Madleen' ship.. while sailing in international waters is a clear violation of international law," Turkey said, calling it as a "heinous attack" by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a statement, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said Israeli troops "forcibly intercepted" the vessel in international waters at 0102 GMT as it was approaching the Gaza Strip. Turkey's foreign ministry said there were Turkish nationals among those on board, with FFC's website indicating there were 12 people from seven countries, including Turkey. Two of them hold Turkish passports. Gaza's Hamas rulers condemned the move in a statement that said the Madleen was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod. A Turkish foreign ministry source said the boat was "expected to reach land in the evening" and that its consular officials had taken "the necessary initiatives to meet them as soon as they disembark from the ship and to ensure their release". "We are also in contact with other countries whose citizens are on board. The families of our citizens are being regularly updated," the source added. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading The ministry earlier said Israel's "aggressive and lawless attitude will not silence the voices defending human values" and that the international community's "justified reaction to Israel's genocidal policies, which use hunger as a weapon in Gaza and prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, will continue". The boat's interception came just over 15 years after Israeli commandos staged a botched raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying activists to Gaza, killing 10 civilians -- all of them Turkish nationals. The assault sparked a years-long diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel, which only restored full diplomatic ties in 2022 -- in a reconciliation which has since been shattered by Israel's war on Gaza's Hamas rulers. The war was triggered by Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures. Israel has hit back with force in an ongoing military assault that Gaza's health ministry says has killed at least 54,880 people, mostly civilians. Agence France-Presse
