Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz told the military yesterday to stop a charity boat carrying activists, including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, who are planning to defy an Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen ... does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
“To Greta and her friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza,” he said.
Climate activist Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to ‘challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes’ in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for aid.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble.
The UN has warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
The Madleen is carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, the FFC has said.
Besides Thunberg, there are 11 other crew members aboard, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
Israeli media has reported that the military plans to intercept the yacht before it reaches Gaza and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The crew would then be deported.
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