Israel on Sunday ordered the military to stop a humanitarian ship carrying international activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Franco-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan. The Madleen flotilla is trying to break the Israeli blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
"I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement from his office.
Calling Thunberg an "antisemite" and the group of activists "Hamas propaganda mouthpieces", he added: "Turn back because you will not reach Gaza."
The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on 1 June with the aim of delivering aid and challenging the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for years even before the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023.
Organisers said Saturday the vessel had entered Egyptian waters and was nearing Gaza, where the war has entered its 21st month.
Aboard the boat are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
Important initiative of solidarity
"Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas – a murderous terrorist group holding our hostages and committing war crimes," Katz said.
"Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or support terror groups – by sea, air or land," he added.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack from Israel.
On Sunday, French MEP Rima Hassan, who is on board the Madleen told French news agency AFP that the crew were ready to "stay mobilised until the last minute – until Israel cuts the internet and networks."
Earlier, she reported that more than 200 European parliamentarians had signed an open letter to Israel, calling for the Madleen to be allowed to reach Gaza.
In a statement released Friday, Amnesty International called the voyage "an important initiative of solidarity."
Denouncing "one of the worst man-made humanitarian disasters in the world" in Gaza, the NGO asserted that "there is no justification" for preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Palestinian territory.
Distribution zones in firing line
In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday.
"Five martyrs and dozens of wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on civilians at around 6:00 am", said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency.
The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution centre west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.
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The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
The Israeli military said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings.
It said the area around the distribution point had been declared an "active combat zone" at night.
"Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire," eyewitness Abdallah Nour al-Din told French news agency AFP.
Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body-bags.
Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to the civil defence.
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Bassal said another five people, including two young girls, were killed around in an overnight strike that hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi displaced persons camp in southern Gaza.
The war was sparked by Hamas's 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
On Sunday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the death toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,880, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.
(with AFP)
