Greta Thunberg on board: Israel stops Gaza aid ship

After a day trip on a sailing ship with relief goods for people in the Gaza Strip, Greta Thunberg and other activists were stopped by the Israeli army shortly before their destination and apparently brought to Israel.

The ship is transported to the Israeli coast, the passengers were supposed to return to their home countries, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in the early morning on platform X.

Previously, the Freeedom Flotilla Coalition alliance had announced that the Israeli army had tied the ship “Madleen” in international waters. Among the crew members taken in custody by the Israeli army is also a member of the European Parliament.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs further announced that the activists had tried to stage a media “provocation” with the only purpose of attracting public attention. Her cargo was so slight that it did not even correspond to a truck delivery with relief goods. “There are ways to bring help to the Gaza Strip-without Instagram selfies,” said the statement.

UN experts Israel had already called for the ship not to attack the ship last week. “The population of the Gaza Strip has the right to obtain relief goods from their own territorial waters, and the coalition ship has the right to freely pass through in international waters to reach people in the Gaza Strip,” it said. “Israel must not intervene in the freedom of shipping, which has long been recognized under international law.”

The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz still instructed the army on Sunday to prevent the ship’s arrival. “The state of Israel will not allow anyone to break the sea blockade of the Gaza Strip,” Katz announced. In previous cases, Israel had already prevented activists from creating with their ships on the coast of the isolated Gaza Strip.

Greta Thunberg had set sail from Sicily with eleven other activists on June 1st to bring the ship of the alliance Freedom Flotilla Coalition urgently needed to bring relief goods such as baby food and medical goods to Gaza. At the same time, they wanted to focus on international emergency in the almost completely destroyed coastal area with around two million inhabitants. After their day trip through the eastern Mediterranean, they actually wanted to arrive on the coast of Gazas on Monday morning.

Rima Hassan is also one of the participants in the symbolic action. The French Palestinian lawyer is a member of the La France Insoumise (indomitable France) party in the European Parliament.

Thunberg has become world famous with her rigorous struggle for more climate protection. The now 22-year-old Swede has been committed to the interests of the Palestinian population for a long time. Your credo: Without social justice, there could be no climate justice.

Israel repeatedly accuses her of committing a genocide of the Palestinians. Critics, on the other hand, hold out to ignore the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023, which triggered the Gaza War in her allegations.

Israel has completely prevented the delivery of food, medication and other vital goods in the Gaza Strip in the course of its attacks on the Gaza Strip, but the blockade has recently loosened a bit. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims to put Hamas under pressure so that it exposes the hostages they have captured.

The blockade is considered by almost all countries in the world as contrary to international law. Already in March of last year, the International Court of Justice in the Hague ordered preliminary measures and found that there is a famine in the Gaza Strip, which has the risk of genocide. In November last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the war criminal offense.