Israel intercepts the ship with aid for Gaza in which Greta Thunberg travels and diverts it towards its coasts

Israeli soldiers detained a Freedom Flotilla boat on Monday, which was seeking to bring humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Activists linked to the group posted a message on Telegram at the time of the intervention.

“Connection has been lost” with the Madleen, they said, while sharing a photograph showing people wearing life jackets sitting with their hands raised inside the vessel.

Shortly after, the Israeli Foreign Ministry reported that the ship “is sailing safely towards the shores of Israel,” that the passengers are “unharmed,” and that they are expected to be “repatriated to their countries of origin.”

The current location of the vessel is still unknown, but the Israeli Defense Ministry indicated that it will dock in the port city of Ashdod.

The first news of the ship being blocked came after 5:30 a.m. local time. It was learned that it was sailing near the Egyptian coast at the time.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among the passengers on the boat, which included citizens of Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

Several media outlets published a pre-recorded video of Thunberg in which she claims to have been “kidnapped” by Israel.

In the video, she also calls on her followers to generate pressure on her country’s government so that the Israeli government releases her and the rest of her companions “as soon as possible.”

For its part, the Israeli Foreign Ministry referred to the Madleen as a “celebrity selfie yacht” and published photos and videos on its social networks of the Freedom Flotilla activists, wearing life jackets and receiving food and water.

The ministry criticized the group and alleged that they “tried to mount a media provocation with the sole purpose of gaining notoriety, which included less than a truckload of aid.”

“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip; it’s not about Instagram selfies,” he said.

How the detention unfolded

Bright lights flickered and screeching noises caused some to cover their ears the moment Israeli forces boarded the Madleen, according to footage captured by an onboard security camera.

A voice, which appears to belong to Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, can be heard repeatedly telling the crew: “Leave your phones… phones in the water.”

Later, someone is seen throwing a device overboard and a laptop.

He tells everyone to “take positions,” before giving a thumbs-up to someone outside the boat. It is unclear who he is addressing, though it appears to be someone from another boat.

He then says over the phone, “They are boarding us now… it’s very important that you know, no one is hurt. No one was hurt when they boarded our boat.”

A female voice adds, “If anything happens to us, this is a war crime.”

The atmosphere on board appears calm, with the crew keeping their hands up.

Three and a half minutes into the released footage, another boat appears in the background. A voice can be heard saying, “Calm down… Calm down everyone.” It is unclear who is speaking.

In the next ten seconds, Israeli soldiers are seen boarding the boat, crouching down, and speaking to a crew member. Shortly after, the footage ends.

This nearly four-minute video was shared online by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. It is unclear whether the broadcast stopped at that point or if only a portion was posted.

Breaking the Siege

The Freedom Flotilla said the vessel, which set sail from Sicily on Sunday, June 1, was carrying humanitarian aid and had “prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack.”

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the ship must turn around and that Israel would act against any attempt to break the blockade.

In a post on X on Sunday, Katz wrote:

“I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act and prevent the ‘Madeleine’ [sic] hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza, and to take all necessary measures to achieve this.”

Katz claims that the purpose of the Israeli blockade, in place since 2007, is “to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas” and that it is essential to Israel's security as it seeks to destroy the group.

The organization maintains that the maritime blockade is illegal,and called Katz’s statement an example of Israel threatening the illegal use of force against civilians and “trying to justify such violence with slander.”

“We will not be intimidated. The world is watching,” said Hay Sha Wiya, a press spokeswoman for the Flotilla.

“The Madleen is a civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights defenders from around the world… Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza.”

According to the group, the Madleen was carrying a symbolic amount of aid, including rice and baby formula.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 people when they boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was leading a flotilla with aid destined for Gaza.

Israel recently allowed limited aid into Gaza after a three-month land blockade, prioritizing distribution through the Foundation Gaza humanitarian, backed by Israel and the United States, but widely rejected by humanitarian groups.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said last week that Palestinians face “the grimmest choice: starve to death or risk being killed while trying to access the little food available.”

It has been almost 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza, in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

Since then, at least 54,880 people have died in Gaza, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.

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