Israel diverts aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

AFP | Jerusalem

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Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat yesterday, preventing the activists on board -- including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg -- from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.

The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on Earth”. After 21 months of war, the UN warns the entire population is at risk of famine.

At around 4:02 am (0102 GMT), Israeli troops “forcibly intercepted” the vessel in international waters as it approached Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.

“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” 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” in international waters. Iran also denounced it as “a form of piracy”, citing the same grounds.

In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel. In 2010, a commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar attempt to breach Israel’s naval blockade, left 10 civilians dead.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.

‘Risked their lives’ for food

The Madleen was intercepted about 185 kilometres (115 miles) 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.

Israel is facing mounting pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

It recently allowed some deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

But humanitarian agencies have criticised 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. It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a GHF-run site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza.

The Israeli military said it fired on people who “continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers” despite warnings.