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The Israeli defence minister has threatened to “take all necessary measures” to prevent a humanitarian ship carrying climate campaigner Greta Thunberg from reaching Gaza.
The ‘Madleen’, a boat operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), says it is attempting to reach the shores of the territory to bring in a symbolic amount of aid and raise international awareness of the continuing humanitarian crisis.
But on Sunday, Israel Katz ordered the Israeli military to stop the ship from getting anywhere near Gaza.
“I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act so that the hate flotilla … does not reach the shores of Gaza – and to take all necessary measures to that end,” the defence minister said in a statement.
“To the antisemitic Greta [Thunberg] and her friends who echo Hamas propaganda, I say clearly: You’d better turn back – because you will not reach Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or to assist terrorist organisations – by sea, by air, and by land.”
Thunberg, who has said she is taking part in the mission “because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity”, has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
On board the vessel alongside her are the Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and 10 other activists from Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands. They include Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament of Palestinian descent who has been barred from entering Israel.
Responding to Katz on Sunday, they said: “The statement by Israel’s defence minister is yet another example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians – and attempting to justify that violence with smears.
“We will not be intimidated,” it added. “The world is watching.”
As of Sunday evening, the Madleen, which left the port of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy, on 1 June, was approximately 160 nautical miles from Gaza.
“We are monitoring the situation closely,” the FFC said. “We remain calm, resolute, and prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack. We reiterate our call to world governments to demand that Israel stand down. Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza.”
Israel’s blockade on Gaza has been in place for years, even before the Israel-Hamas war that erupted in October 2023 after the Hamas attacks on Israel in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were taken hostage.
It was slightly eased in mid-May after nearly three months, allowing a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the territory. But malnutrition is spreading, medics and aid workers have warned, with UN officials describing Gaza as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Katz said on Sunday that the blockade was essential to Israel’s national security as it seeks to destroy Hamas. “The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade on Gaza, whose primary purpose is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas,” he said.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during Israel’s assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the territory reduced to rubble.
Israel’s plan to concentrate food delivery in hubs guarded by private security contractors and the Israeli military and provided by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has proved to be chaotic and dangerous, critics say.
At least four people were killed and others wounded by Israeli fire on Sunday, about a kilometre from a food distribution point in Gaza, Palestinian medics and officials said. The deaths bring the number of people who have been killed while trying to find food in Gaza since 27 May, when GHF became responsible for civilian food provision, to 110. More than 1,000 have been injured.
Israel said it was expecting to intercept the flotilla in the next 48 hours.
Before leaving Sicily on board the Madleen, which is carrying a symbolic amount of rice and infant formula, Thunberg told reporters: “We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying. Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And, no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the livestreamed genocide.”
Thunberg, who became an internationally famous climate activist after organising protests in her native Sweden, had been due to board a previous Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, last month. It was bombed by drones and disabled while in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory.
