THE Israeli Navy has intercepted boats carrying aid to Gaza and detained the activists aboard, including Swedish climate campaigner, Greta Thunberg.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said several vessels that form part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) had been “safely stopped” and that those aboard were being transferred to an Israeli port, adding that the Navy had ealier warned the vessels to change course as they were “approaching an active combat zone.”
The GSF said boats were still being intercepted on Thursday morning, October 2. Earlier, it said 30 boats were still “sailing strong to Gaza” and were 46 nautical miles from their intended destination, describing the interception as “illegal” and “not an act of defence,” but “a brazen act of desperation.”
The group alleged that one vessel within the flotilla was “deliberately rammed at sea” and additional boats were hit by water cannons, adding: “It clearly reveals the extreme lengths to which the occupier will go to ensure Gaza remains starved and isolated.”
In posts on social media, GSF wrote: “They will attack a peaceful civilian mission because the success of humanitarian aid means the failure of their siege.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said the flotilla had been informed it was “violating a lawful naval blockade” that covers the waters next to Gaza, though it is unclear if the boats had entered the blockade zone.
It posted footage from the interception showing Thunberg sitting on the deck of a boat, being handed water and a jacket by a member of the Israeli military.
Later on Thursday, according to Reuters, the ministry said detained activists were being taken to Israel before procedures begin to deport them to Europe.
Livestreams from the boats suggest not all of the 44 vessels have been boarded and evacuated.
The Israeli government, which has branded the GSF’s attempt to transport humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza as “provocation,” added that Greta and her friends were safe and healthy.
The GSF said multiple ships, including the Alma, one of the main vessels, as well as the Surius and the Adara, had been intercepted and boarded.
Before then, it accused the Israeli military of “intentionally damaging ship communications in an attempt to block distress signals and stop the livestream of their illegal boat boarding.”
GSF said the flotilla had been 70 nautical miles from Gaza’s shoreline when the intervention occurred. It had hoped that its vessels would arrive in Gaza on Thursday morning.
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