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Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel Draws Outrage For Seizing Gaza-Bound Aid Boat And Detaining Activists
Israel is drawing fire from rights groups, activists and some politicians for seizing the Gaza-bound 'Freedom Flotilla' that carried humanitarian assistance, and forcibly detaining the boat's dozen civilians in international waters ― calling the move illegal and representative of the Israeli government's commitmentto destroying the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military seized the 'Madleen' in the middle of the night, about 120 miles from Gaza in international waters, and forcibly detained all 12 civilians from seven countries ― including climate activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan. Footage from the boat carrying humanitarian aid showed those onboard in lifejackets with their hands up, and some of the activists recorded themselves giving updates on the matter until connection was severed. 'Israel has absolutely no authority to intercept and stop a boat like this, which carried humanitarian aid and, most than everything else, humanity to the people of Gaza,' said U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who was on the phone with the Madleen's captain during the boat's seizure. 'You know, there should be state navies breaking the siege instead of a boat of volunteers risking their life. But this is what we are left with – the humanity of these volunteers.' In the event of harm, each activist pre-recorded a videosaying they've been 'kidnapped' by Israel, and that they urge the public to pressure their home country's government to get them released and demand an end to the aid blockade. The Madleen was flying the flag of the United Kingdom, while the activists hail from France, Sweden, Turkey, Spain, Brazil, Germany and the Netherlands. 'Recalling the principle of freedom of navigation in international waters, Brazil urges the Israeli government to release the detained crew members. It further stresses the need for Israel to immediately remove all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Palestinian territory, in accordance with its obligations as an occupying power,' the Brazilian government said in a statement, adding that embassies in the region are ready to provide any necessary consular assistance. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the six French nationals who were on board the Madleen ― including Hassan ― be allowed to return 'as soon as possible,' according to AFP. Germany's ambassador to Israel also confirmed he is in touch with authorities and has offered consular assistance to its one citizen in the group, while the Turkish government condemned the seizure as a 'heinous attack' in international waters. In a change of tone from the other countries, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said Thunberg is not in any danger and therefore in no need of consular support, and implied that the detained civilians bear responsibility for setting sail to Gaza despite warnings from the Swedish government. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the Madleen has since arrived at the Ashdod port, where the passengers are being processed and transferred into the custody of Israeli authorities. The government released images of Thunberg and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila at what appears to be the dock, the first look at any of the activists since Israel seized what they called the 'Selfie Yacht.' 'He is a different human being. He is a good guy, he's a golden guy with a giant heart, and I get very concerned because he's my little brother,' Avila's sister Luana said in Portuguese through tears on Instagram. 'And I don't know what will happen to him. I hope that normal procedures will be followed and that there is loyalty at least in that, and [they] let him come home to us.' The activists are allegedly expected to be charged with entering Israel illegally ― despite being forcibly taken to the country ― and held in isolation at a detention facility in Ramleh unless they agree to leave immediately, in which case they may be able to fly out of Tel Aviv as early as Monday night. The U.K. said that it wants Israel to resolve the situation 'safely with restraint' and 'in line with international humanitarian law,' though continued to demand the free flow of aid into the territory. The Israeli government said it will send the Madleen's 'meager cargo' to Gaza, accusing Thunberg specifically of 'feeding [her] own ego' instead of feeding Palestinians. It should be noted that Israel has been widely accused of violating international humanitarian law by blocking almost all aid from entering Gaza and intentionally starving Palestinians as a form of collective punishment. 'The Madleen's mission emerged as a powerful symbol of solidarity with besieged, starved and suffering Palestinians amid persistent international inaction. However, this very mission is also an indictment of the international community's failure to put an end to Israel's inhumane blockade,' Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said in a statement. Protesters around the world flooded the streets on Monday, calling on their governments to protect the detained activists and follow their lead in trying to break Israel's siege on Gaza. 'Israel's interception of the Madleen despite global calls for it to be granted safe passage underscores the longstanding impunity Israel enjoys which has emboldened it to continue to commit genocide in Gaza and to maintain a suffocating, illegal blockade on Gaza for 18 years,' she continued. 'Until we see real concrete steps by states worldwide signaling an end to their blanket support for Israel, it will have carte blanche to continue inflicting relentless death and suffering on Palestinians.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seized Gaza aid boat Madleen carrying Greta Thunberg taken to Israeli port
A Gaza-bound aid boat illegally seized in international waters by Israeli forces has been towed into Ashdod Port, with the dozen international activists who were on board now facing detention and deportation. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which launched the ship to draw international attention to the looming famine in besieged Gaza, said it was captured at about 4:02am (01:02 GMT) on Monday, about 200km (120 miles) from Gaza, arriving at Ashdod as night fell. Earlier, the coalition released a video from the vessel, which left Sicily on June 1, showing the activists – among whom are climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and French member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan – with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel and 'kidnapped' them. Adalah, a Palestinian legal centre representing the activists, said they were expected to be held at a detention facility before being deported. It said that Israel had 'no legal authority' to take over the ship, which was in international waters, heading not to Israel but to the 'territorial waters of the State of Palestine'. The arrests of the 12 'unarmed activists' amounted to 'a serious breach of international law', it said in a statement. Huwaida Arraf, an FFC organiser, told Al Jazeera there had been no contact with the activists since they had been detained in the early hours of Monday. 'We have lawyers on standby who are going to demand they have access to them tonight – as soon as possible,' she said. The Madleen, she noted, was sailing under a United Kingdom flag when it was forcibly seized by Israeli commandos. 'So Israel went into international waters and attacked sovereign UK territory, which is blatantly unlawful. And we expect strong condemnation, which we have not yet heard from the United Kingdom,' she UK government urged Israel to handle its detention of the activists 'safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law'. 'We have made clear our position in relation to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The PM has called it appalling and intolerable,' said a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, said: 'Israel has absolutely no authority to intercept and stop a boat like this, which carries humanitarian aid, and more than everything else, humanity, to the people of Gaza.' Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from Jordan's capital Amman, said the activists would be accused of entering Israel illegally. 'These activists had no intention to enter Israel. They wanted to reach the shores of Gaza, which are not part of Israel,' she said. 'But that is how they will be processed, and they will be deported because of that.'Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying in a post on X that 'the 'selfie yacht' of the 'celebrities' is safely making its way to the shores of Israel'. It said the passengers were 'undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health', adding that all passengers were expected to return to their home countries. Government spokesperson David Mencer reserved special scorn for 22-year-old Thunberg. 'Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself. And she's not here for Gaza, let's be blunt about it. She's here for Greta,' he said. In a prerecorded video message that was shared by the FFC, Thunberg said: 'I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.' The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs said it was in contact with Israeli authorities. 'Should the need for consular support arise, the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess how we can best help the Swedish citizen/Greta Thunberg resolve her situation,' said a spokesperson in a written statement to the Reuters news agency. United States President Donald Trump, who targeted Thunberg in 2019, dismissed her statement. 'I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg,' he said. French President Emmanuel Macron's office said the president had asked Israeli authorities to release the six French nationals on board as soon as possible, calling the humanitarian blockade of Gaza 'a scandal' and a 'disgrace'. Turkey condemned the interception as a 'heinous attack', while Iran denounced it as 'a form of piracy' in international waters. Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz said the activists would be shown videos of atrocities committed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Hamas condemned the seizure of the boat as 'state terrorism' and said it saluted its activists. On the ground in Gaza, Israeli forces continued their onslaught, killing 60 Palestinians since dawn, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera. Among them were three medics, killed in Gaza City, as well as 13 hungry aid seekers, killed near an Israeli- and US-backed aid distribution site in southern Gaza. More than 130 people have been killed near distribution points run by the shadowy Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) since late May. Israel engaged the group to distribute aid amid its total blockade on all imports, including food, fuel and medicine, as Israel ramped up its offensive after breaking its ceasefire agreement with Hamas in United Nations and other aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF, accusing it of lacking neutrality and suggesting the group has been formed to enable Israel to achieve its stated military objective of taking over all of Gaza. 'Israeli authorities have blocked the delivery of safe and dignified aid at scale to the people of Gaza for over three months now,' said the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Monday. 'We are not asking for the impossible. Allow us to do our work: assist people in need and preserve their dignity,' it said. On Monday, Israeli aircraft also bombed tents sheltering displaced families in al-Katiba square in Gaza City, causing additional deaths and injuries. They also targeted the Shaarawi and Haddad buildings in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, resulting in multiple casualties. At least one person was killed and others injured in an artillery attack on Old Gaza Street in Jabalia, in the north. Israel has killed at least 54,927 people in Gaza since the start of the war, a figure estimated to be far lower than the actual death toll.
Express Tribune
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Eid under occupation
As Muslims around the world gathered with their families to celebrate Eid, Palestinians in Gaza marked the auspicious occasion under a sky filled with drones and gunfire. Over the last few days, more than 100 lives have been lost. The death toll rises as families dig through rubble instead of sharing wholesome meals. Eid in Gaza is not a celebration, but a cry for survival. Israeli strikes have pounded areas across the besieged enclave, from the shattered remnants of Jabalia refugee camp to the so-called "safe zone" of al-Mawasi in Khan Younis - now yet another graveyard of civilians. In the face of global calls for restraint, the Israeli military's unrelenting campaign continues unabated. The seizure of the Madleen aid ship, which carried not weapons but rice and baby formula, reflects the cruelty of the total blockade now entering its third month. Its passengers - including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French MEP Rima Hassan - were detained, and now face deportation. Their only 'offence' was attempting to deliver food to a starving population. Meanwhile, the West Bank is no sanctuary. Israeli forces have conducted widespread arrests across occupied towns, only deepening the fear that now place in Palestinian territories is truly safe. This Eid, nearly 1.95 million Palestinians - 93% of Gaza's population - are trapped in severe food insecurity. One in five is facing starvation. The international community, while occasionally vocal, remains largely ineffective in the face of such open defiance of humanitarian law. No religious holiday, no moral code, no system of international law should allow the mass starvation and slaughter of civilians to continue unchecked. This war is no longer about defence; it is about domination and total annihilation - and the world must call it what it is.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Greta Thunberg's 'Madleen' docks in Ashdod port, crew offered to watch Oct. 7 footage
The Defense Ministry announced that the flotilla was making its way to Israeli shores and that all passengers were expected to return to their home countries. The 12 activists who boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla have arrived at the port in Ashdod alongside Shayetet 13, the IDF's elite navy seals unit, on Monday night. According to Ynet, the passengers were given the option to view footage from Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel, but will not be forced to watch it. The IDF intercepted the Madleen early Monday morning at about 3 a.m., boarding the ship and detaining the passengers after the activists ignored repeated warnings to turn back from breaching Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Israel's position, since Hamas carried out a coup against the Palestinian Authority and took over Gaza in 2007, has been that a naval blockade of Gaza is legal since Hamas is a terror group in a state of war with Israel. Jerusalem also argues that it is necessary to block Iran from smuggling in high-quality missiles, such as those the Yemeni Houthis and other Iranian proxies possess. The activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, French-Palestinian European Parliament Member Rima Hassan, and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, were trying to raise awareness of their opposition to Israel's invasion of Gaza, its blocking of certain international groups from directly distributing food aid in Gaza, and the naval blockade in general. Since 2010, there have been several attempts by global critics of Israel to break Israel's naval blockade. However, in recent years, many of those attempts were stopped by drones, insurance lawsuits, and other tactics. In 2010, 10 activists were killed by the IDF after they attacked Israeli Navy commandos boarding the ship with crowbars and other makeshift weapons, badly injuring at least one. Since then, the IDF has clarified procedures to avoid altercations and has boarded and safely taken control of other ships that tried to break the blockade. There have also been incidents, such as the Karine A cargo ship in 2002 and the Victoria cargo ship in 2011, where the navy has intercepted and commandeered weapons-smuggling vessels without either side being badly injured. According to a Foreign Ministry post on X/Twitter, 'All the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed. They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over.' Sources told The Jerusalem Post that the 12 activists would be sent back to their home countries as quickly as possible in order to wrap up the episode. At press time, multiple home countries of the activists were demanding consular access to their citizens while in Israeli custody. While the media has been covering the flotilla's sailing progress toward Israel for some time, at 1:17 a.m. on Monday, the activists started to signal that the Israeli Navy was bearing down on them. The flotilla's Telegram account reported that alarms sounded on the ship, and life jackets were being prepared. One of the flotilla participants Yasmine Najer uploaded a video to her Instagram account and explained why the alarm in the flotilla was activated: 'We are very close to Gaza. The reason we activated the alarm is that four ships surrounded us and two approached to a distance of about 200 meters – this has not happened before. So that is why we sounded the alarm.' Around that time, the Israeli Navy used an international civilian communication system to communicate with the Madleen, ordering it to change its course due to its approach toward a restricted area. 'If you wish to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, you are able to do so through the Port of Ashdod via the established channels and distribution zones,' said an Israeli sailor on a video distributed by the Foreign Ministry. The ministry later announced that the flotilla, referring to it as the 'selfie yacht,' was making its way to Israeli shores. 'While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity – and which included less than a single truckload of aid – more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks,' the ministry said in an official statement. 'There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip – they do not involve Instagram selfies.' The ministry then added that the aid on the flotilla, which it described as 'tiny,' would be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels. In recent days, the Madleen's official tracker had shown the ship edging closer to the Gaza coastline, and Shayetet 13 had already begun training to board the ship, which the Post had learned could happen 'soon.' However, IDF officials had been circumspect about sharing exact details. Even after the operation, unusually, the Foreign Ministry, and not the IDF, took the lead in publicizing details of the event. The vessel left a week ago from the city of Catania in Sicily. The IDF had stated that it would intercept the vessel before it reached Gaza. The activists on board reported that they would attempt to livestream the IDF's takeover of the vessel. Amichai Stein and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Seized Gaza-bound aid boat with Greta Thunberg on board being towed to Israel
A boat seized by Israel as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza was being towed into an Israeli port after sunset on Monday, with the crew of activists including Greta Thunberg expected to be held there in advance of deportation hearings. The UK-flagged yacht Madleen, operated by the non-profit Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seized more than 160km from the Gaza coast by Israeli military personnel enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the Israel-Hamas war. The ship was brought to the port of Ashdod in Israel where the crew was to be held ahead of deportation and its symbolic cargo of humanitarian aid seized. Thunberg and the other 11 members of the Madleen crew, including the French MEP Rima Hassan and the Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad, have been out of contact since Israeli forces took control of the boat in the early hours of Monday morning. READ MORE They had set out from Sicily on June 1st to protest against Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid. Israel had repeatedly warned that the ship would not be allowed to breach its maritime blockade. The FFC claimed the crew had been 'kidnapped' and the seizure of the Madleen was illegal as it took place in international waters. 'The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – confiscated,' it said. Huwaida Arraf, human rights lawyer and FFC organiser, said: 'Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen. 'This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ's [International Court of Justice's] binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. 'These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalised for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade – their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately.' UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese called for the crew to be released 'immediately'. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he had instructed that upon the boat's arrival at Ashdod port, the activists would be shown videos of atrocities committed during the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war . About 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 250 taken to Gaza, where 55 are still held hostage. Israeli government spokesman David Mencer described the cargo on the Gaza aid boat as 'meagre'. Labelling the ship as a 'selfie yacht', he claimed less than a truck's worth of aid was on board, but said that it would be sent to Gaza. Footage has been circulated of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing orange life vests. 'I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,' Ms Thunberg said in a pre-recorded message released after the ship was halted. Meanwhile, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli forces and allied local gunmen fired toward a crowd heading to an Israeli and US supported food distribution centre in the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 14 people. The Israeli military, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, recently acknowledged supporting local armed groups opposed to Hamas. Since 2008, multiple flotillas have been launched to challenge the 18-year Gaza blockade which has severely limited Palestinian movement and access to goods. Madleen's sister ship Conscience was attacked by drones in May while sailing in international waters off Malta and forced to abandon its voyage to Gaza. The group blamed Israel for the attack. In a post on X on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry accused Ms Thunberg and the crew of attempting 'to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity' rather than deliver food as the ship carried 'less than a single truckload of aid'. The ministry said: 'More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation [GHF] has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.' Ship carrying Greta Thunberg: group of activists greets the departure of the Madleen for Gaza from Catania, Italy. Photograph:Source: The UN says 500-600 aid trucks at day are needed to meet the food and medical needs of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians. Gaza's government media office reported on Sunday that the toll from Israeli shooting incidents during two weeks of aid deliveries at Israeli-backed GHF sites had risen to 125 dead, 736 injured and nine missing. The GHF has been boycotted by UN and international aid agencies which argue it does not conform to humanitarian principals, and its distribution system is chaotic. The Israeli blockade is set to face another challenge on June 15th when the Global March to Gaza, a movement involving people from approximately 50 countries, plans to gather peacefully at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the enclave. Marchers will call on Israel to end its siege of Gaza and allow the free flow of humanitarian aid. Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of 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 Gaza off from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 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. – Additional reporting: Guardian
