Israel Orders Military to Block Aid Flotilla to Gaza
carrying 12 unarmed activists including Greta Thunberg
HAVANA TIMES – Israel’s defense minister on Sunday ordered the military to stop an aid boat belonging to the international nonprofit organization Freedom Flotilla Coalition and carrying climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and fellow activists from reaching the Gaza Strip.
Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz on Sunday ordered the military to block an aid boat headed for Gaza with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
“I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza,” Israel Katz said in a statement from his office.
“To Greta the antisemite and her companions, Hamas propaganda mouthpieces, I say clearly: turn back because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz said.
Aboard the boat are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
One of them, European Parliament member Rima Hassan, has said that more than 200 European lawmakers signed an open letter to Israel calling for the Madleen to be allowed to reach Gaza and for the “immediate entry of its humanitarian cargo”.
The organizers of the Madleen’s voyage said Saturday they had reached Egyptian waters and were nearing Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 21st month.
The Madleen, a sailing boat operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the stated aim of delivering humanitarian aid and breaking the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
“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.
Israeli fire near food distribution site
In Gaza, the civil defense 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 Center west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.
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 AFP.
Five dead in strike on tent
Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body-bags.
“I can’t see you like this,” said Lin al-Daghma by her father’s body, while a man lay over his brother’s corpse.
They gave the same account as Din and spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.
Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to the civil defence.
Bassal said another five people, including two young girls, were killed in an overnight strike that hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi displaced persons camp in southern Gaza.
Israel’s army on Sunday accused Bassal of being linked to Hamas, an allegation he denied.
The army issued copies of what it said were Hamas membership lists to the media, without clarifying where or how the undated documents were obtained.
“I do not work for any military organisation,” Bassal told AFP, adding that the agency’s mission was guided by international law.
The army issued copies of what it said were Hamas membership lists to the media, without clarifying where or how the undated documents were obtained.
“I do not work for any military organization,” Bassal told AFP, adding that the agency’s mission was guided by international law.
The war was sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 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 overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,880, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)