A Gaza-bound charity boat carrying prominent activists, including Greta Thunberg, was intercepted by the Israeli forces on Sunday. The British-flagged Madleen yacht began its journey from Sicily on June 6 and was headed towards the Gaza strip. However, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz eventually ordered the military to prevent it from reaching its destination.

“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen … does not reach Gaza,” he said in a statement, as per Reuters. “To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza”

Katz said that the Israeli blockade of the pro-Palestinian ship was crucial to the country’s national security. “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 added.

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Having previously slammed Israel’s accusations of antisemitism, the renowned climate activist joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza. Alongside Thunberg, 11 other crew members were onboard the ship, including Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. Given Thunberg and the others’ emphasis on the need to raise humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza, Israeli forces have smeared their support as an alliance with Islamist militants associated with Hamas.

What’s next for the detained pro-Palestinian volunteers

Quoting Israeli media, the Reuters report added that the military’s plans to intercept the pro-Palestinian Gaza-bound yacht will be followed up by escorting it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. From there, the crew is expected to be deported. The Madleen yacht is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC). The FFC named it after a Palestinian fisher and describes it as a “symbol of resistance and resilience.”

SOS: Volunteers who were onboard the Madleen

Videos and posts shared on the coalition’s official X profile sounded an SOS alarm after pro-Palestinian volunteers were detained on Sunday. Considering the message of the clips posted on social media, they are believed to have been shot prior to the shocking development. French-Palestinian Rima Hassan is heard saying: “If you’re seeing this video now, it’s because we’ve been stopped by the Israeli army or their complicit allies. We count on your mobilisation to put pressure on the French government to demand our release.”

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Other such videos indicated the detainees included French citizens Yanis Mhamdi, Reva Viard, Baptiste Andre and Pascal Raymond Maurieras, Spanish citizen Sergio Toribio, Dutch citizen Mark van Rennes, Turkish citizen Huseyin Suayb Ordu, German citizen Yasemin Acar, Brazil’s Thiago Avila, and of course Swedish citizen Greta Thunberg. They hoped offer “humanitarian cargo, including baby formula, medical supplies, and other life-saving aid” to “the besieged population of Gaza.”

The Israel Foreign Ministry has since released a video of the Madleen yacht, saying that all passengers are “safe and unharmed.” The official post also highlighted that they were provided with sandwiches and water.

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