Cairo – The organisers of a Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists said Israeli forces intercepted the vessel on Monday, after Israel vowed to prevent it from reaching the Palestinian territory.
The Madleen aimed to deliver aid and challenge Israel’s decades-long naval blockade of Gaza.
AFP lost contact with the activists onboard early Monday morning after the organisers said alarms sounded and life jackets were being prepared for a possible interception.
“Connection has been lost on the ‘Madleen’. Israeli army have boarded the vessel,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the activist group operating the vessel, posted on Telegram. It added that the passengers had been “kidnapped” by Israeli forces.
The activist group posted a series of pre-recorded videos from those onboard, including one from Thunberg.
“If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” she said.
Mahmud Abu-Odeh, a Germany-based press officer with the coalition, told AFP that “the activists seemed to be arrested”.
Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered Israel’s army to stop the ship from reaching Gaza or violating a blockade he described as needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the activists’ boat was instructed to change course as it approached “a restricted area” early Monday. About an hour later, it said the boat was being towed to Israeli shores.
“The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on social media.
“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it added.
Swedish climate campaigner Thunberg is among a multi-national group of activists aboard the Madleen, which departed from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness about the humanitarian plight in Gaza.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of famine, malnutrition and disease throughout the 21 months of the Israel-Hamas war.
#Breaking According to Israeli sources, #Israel naval commandos boarded the boat #Madleen carrying aid to #Gaza and captured activists. pic.twitter.com/ZIKl0ANiG3
— Ahmet Özay (@aoezay) June 9, 2025
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Source: AFP
