Israel intercepted a vessel carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists Monday that was attempting to break its naval blockade to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the British-flagged yacht Madleen was “safely making its way to the shores of Israel” after being boarded by its forces, and by Monday evening local time, the agency said the ship had docked in Ashdod Port.
"The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health," the ministry said in a post on social media, adding that arrangements would be made for their returns to their respective home countries.
The vessel, which was carrying a symbolic shipment of humanitarian aid, departed Sicily earlier this month in an effort to reach Gaza, where Israel’s 11-week aid blockade has heightened fears of starvation.
Thunberg, a climate activist, said the mission was vital in the face of global silence on what she called a “live-streamed genocide.”
Israel had vowed to stop the vessel, which was also carrying Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist and politician; Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament; and Baptiste André, a French doctor who was traveling with the group to assist passengers injured in potential confrontations with Israeli forces.
Hamas condemned the vessel’s interception, saying in a statement, “Gaza is not alone, but rather enjoys the support of the free people of the world.”
Madleen’s attempt to provide aid via the naval route came as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been tasked with aid distribution as part of a controversial U.S.- and Israel-backed plan, announced Sunday the opening of three distribution centers in Gaza on Monday. Its centers were closed last week after dozens of Palestinians were shot and killed near its operations.
The Madleen’s crew reported signal jamming Sunday and warned of a possible interception. The Israeli navy approached the boat Monday and urged it to change course.
“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to naval traffic as part of a legal naval blockade,” a soldier can be heard saying via loudspeaker in a video posted on X by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
“If you wish to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, you are able to do so through the port of Ashdod,” the soldier says, referring to an Israeli cargo port.
The activists could be seen raising their hands as lights flashed from boats surrounding the vessel in a video posted by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which said it had lost all contact with the crew.
United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said she was on the phone with the ship’s captain while it was being approached by the navy.
“Madleen must be released immediately,” she said in a post on X.
In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to “screen the October 7 massacre video to the flotilla passengers upon their arrival at Ashdod Port.”
Katz accused the activists of supporting Hamas and vowed to stop them by “any means necessary” Sunday as the vessel sailed north of the Egyptian coastal city of Rosetta, roughly 160 nautical miles from Gaza.
“To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back — because you will not reach Gaza,” he posted on Telegram.
Despite Israeli warnings, the activists pressed ahead with their plans.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg said last week.
Israel, which rejects allegations of genocide, began allowing basic aid into Gaza in mid-May following an international outcry over its three-month blockade on the entry of food, medicine and other vital supplies that U.N.-backed food experts said had left the enclave’s population of 2 million people at “critical risk of famine.”
Gaza has been under an Israeli naval blockade since 2007, when it was taken over by Hamas. The Israel-Hamas war began with the militant group’s terrorist attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which more than 1,200 people were killed, according to an Israeli tally.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas in response, launching a military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose numbers are generally considered reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
