Madleen: Israel vows to prevent aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg reaching Gaza as activists claim communications jammed
Israel has declared it will prevent a humanitarian aid boat carrying Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and others from reaching Gaza, as the vessel nears Palestinian territorial waters.
The boat, named Madleen and operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, set sail from Sicily last Sunday with 12 activists onboard. The group’s mission is to challenge Israel’s longstanding naval blockade of Gaza and deliver urgently needed aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, “Israel will not allow anyone to break its naval blockade of the Palestinian territory,” which he claimed was designed to prevent Hamas from importing weapons.
Among those aboard is Rima Hassan, a French Member of the European Parliament of Palestinian descent, who has previously been denied entry into Israel due to her criticism of the Israeli government’s policies.
The activists had aimed to reach Gaza’s waters roughly a week after departure. But as the Madleen approached its destination, concerns escalated onboard. Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist,, claimed their navigation systems had been tampered with.
"We are here on board the Madleen to break the siege of Gaza and to create the people's humanitarian corridor," he said in a video. "We just received some very weird news that, according to our tracker, we are no longer 162 miles off Gaza — which is where we are — but according to (the tracker) we are on Jordan airport. And we know what that means. When they start jamming our communication, when they start messing with our devices, it means they are preparing for an interception or an attack."
Thiago also warned of imminent danger, claiming that “we all heard the Israeli media saying that they confirmed that the Unit S13 of [the] IOF (Israel Defence Forces) special forces (is involved), so they’re preparing to commit a war crime and we need to stop that. We can still stop that and I’m convinced that if we mobilise enough, if we pressure enough - the US, the governments - we can make a pressure on the Zionist entity that they cannot afford to attack us.”
This comes after a previous attempt by the group last month was thwarted when another vessel was reportedly hit by two drones in international waters off Malta, damaging its bow. The group blamed Israel for the strike.
Although Israel eased its total blockade of Gaza last month after three months of halting nearly all aid, humanitarian groups warn that famine remains a real risk unless both the blockade and the war end.
Who’s on Madleen?
Twelve activists are on board the boat, they are, Greta Thunberg, the well-known Swedish climate campaigner, Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament, Yasemin Acar, a German activist of Kurdish descent, Brazilian activist, Thiago Ávila, and Baptiste André, a French physician.
French journalist Omar Faiad, affiliated with Al Jazeera Mubasher, is among the media figures onboard, alongside fellow French nationals Pascal Maurieras and Yanis Mhamdi, both of whom have backgrounds in activism and journalism,
Turkish activist Suayb Ordu, Spanish Sea Shepherd crew member Sergio Toribio, and Dutch activist Marco van Rennes further add to the international character of the group. Lastly, Reva Viard, a French climate activist, rounds out the delegation.