The Madleen, a yacht, is seen in Malta readying to set sail for Gaza and laden with aid for besieged Palestinians and celebrities onboard. Photo courtesy of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Israel said Sunday that it would use “any means necessary” to stop a flotilla of boats carrying a dozen pro-Palestinian activists and aid from reaching Gaza, and was attempting to stop the boats from breaching an Israeli naval brigade.
One of the boats, a small, civilian boat called the Madleen, is carrying activist Greta Thunberg, and was 160 nautical miles off the coast of Egypt on Sunday, according to a ship tracker. Local reports said the Madleen’s communication systems may have been interfered with so the boat’s exact location was unknown, according to the Times of Israel.
The Madleen is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition carrying aid to the region that set sail from Sicily on June 1. European Parliamentarian Rima Hassan is also aboard the Madleen.
While the small boat is said to be carrying aid and activists, Israel has said it is critical to prevent weapons smuggling into the region. Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza in 2007, but it has intensified since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people. The ensuing battle has left tens of thousands of Gazans dead.
Israeli defense minister Israel Katz is leading efforts to keep the Madleen, which is carrying only a token amount of aid, from reaching Gazans.
“To Greta the antisemite and her friends, propagandists for Hamas — I say clearly: You would do well to turn back, because you won’t get to Gaza,” Katz said in a statement. “Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or aid terrorist organizations by sea, air or land.”
Israel and Egypt imposed the aid blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Islamic militant group seized the coastal strip in 2007. Israel has said it is not trying to limit aid to effected Gazans but, rather, said it imposed the blockade to prevent weapons smuggling into to the enclave.
Israel recently imposed an 80-day block on humanitarian aid to Gazans, which has the region on the precipice of famine, international aid organizations have said.
This is the latest in a series of moves by Israel to stop aid deliveries to the region, following an attempt in April that stopped a ship called the Conscience after it left Tunisia and was scheduled to pick up more activists and humanitarian aid in Malta.
The Conscience was set on fire by Israeli-backed explosions that set it on fire off the coast of Malta.
