Greta Thunberg Arrested as Israeli Navy Captures Gaza Aid Vessel in International Waters

Greta Thunberg and other people are being held by Israeli forces after they intercepted an aid ship headed for Gaza, raising humanitarian concerns.

Early on Monday, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and eleven other people were detained when Israeli authorities halted a humanitarian ship headed for Gaza. In addition to delivering vital help, such as food and medical supplies, the ship, which was organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, sought to challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza.

While attempting to bring much-needed help to the region, the activists were “kidnapped by Israeli forces,” according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had planned the trip.

“The ship’s unarmed civilian crew was kidnapped, its life-saving cargo, including food, medical supplies, and baby formula, was seized, and the ship was illegally boarded,” the statement read. The ship was reportedly captured in international waters some 200 kilometers (120 miles) away from Gaza.

In an X post, Israel’s Foreign Ministry described the trip as a publicity ploy, stating that “the’selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

The aid will be provided to Gaza via approved means, it claimed, and the campaigners would go back to their home countries. Video of what appeared to be Israeli military soldiers giving the activists, who were wearing orange life vests, sandwiches and water was distributed.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the ship was headed for the Israeli port of Ashdod. Before being sent back to their countries of origin, the activists were supposed to undergo processing in Ramle.

The Madleen had left Sicily a week earlier, stopping to save four migrants who were escaping the Libyan coast patrol. French member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, who has been prohibited from entering Israel due to her pro-Palestinian views, was one among the detained.

She has been asked to be released by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said her government has warned against visiting Gaza for years and stressed that it was the duty of the tourists. Their safety was not an immediate issue, she noted.

Adalah, a legal rights organization, denounced the seizure, claiming Israel lacked the legal right to stop the ship in international waters and that it was against international law to hold unarmed humanitarian activists.

The scope and goals of the expedition were criticized by Israeli officials. This was not aid for the needy. According to spokesperson David Mencer, it’s Instagram activism. He said the flotilla’s cargo was dwarfed by the 1,200 truckloads of aid that Israel had supplied in just two weeks.

This is the Freedom Flotilla’s second unsuccessful sea effort in as many weeks. The group claimed that Israel was responsible for the drone attack that hit another of its ships last month close to Malta.

Following Hamas’s takeover of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt have kept the territory under embargo. Israel contends that preventing weapons from getting to Hamas is crucial, but some refer to this as collective punishment of Gaza’s two million citizens.

The October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, in which militants killed 1,200 people and captured 251 captives, caused the embargo to tighten further.

According to the health ministry of the territory, Israel’s military assault has now killed over 54,000 people in Gaza and forced nearly 90% of the inhabitants to flee their homes.

Gaza’s humanitarian situation persists as ceasefire talks come to a standstill.

Israeli forces have pledged to keep up their offensive until all hostages are released and Hamas is destroyed.