A flotilla carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg on an aid mission to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli forces on Wednesday night, Israeli officials said.
Footage showed Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF)âs Family Boat, which was transporting Greta and some 350 other activists, being seized by Israeli soldiers off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
At least 13 boats in the flotilla are continuing their journey to the besieged territory, but Israel has vowed to deport all participants in the aid mission.
âSeveral vessels of the Hamas-Sumud flotilla have been safely stopped and their passengers are being transferred to an Israeli port,â the Israeli foreign ministry said on X (Twitter). âGreta and her friends are safe and healthy.â
More than 40 vessels from 44 nations make up the GSF, which embarked on what they described as a âpeaceful missionâ aiming to break Israelâs naval blockade on the besieged Gaza Strip. Joining Ms Thunberg on board were a host of other climate activists and aid workers, including journalist Yusuf Omar and human rights activist Yasemin Acar.
Who was on the boat and where is it?
The Familia Madeira, or Family Boat, had been carrying Ms Thunberg and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, among others. On Wednesday evening, it was intercepted by Israeli forces, according to a tracker on the organisationâs website.
According to the tracker, a total of 21 boats had been intercepted as of 9.36am GMT. However, 13 were continuing to sail to Gaza.
The GSF has posted several videos on Telegram with messages from individuals aboard the boats, some holding their passports and claiming they had been abducted and taken to Israel against their will, while reiterating that their mission was a non-violent humanitarian cause.
Ms Thunberg shot to notoriety in 2018 when she decided to skip school as a 15-year-old in an attempt to persuade the Swedish parliament to take more action on climate change.
âWe all know why we are here,â said Ms Thunberg last month before the boatâs departure from a Tunisian port. âJust across the water thereâs a genocide going on, a mass starvation by Israelâs murder machine.â
The other activists on board the vessel were: Ms Acar (Germany), Kleoniki Alexopoulou (Greece), Mr Avila (Brazil), Melanie Schweizer (Germany), Karen Moynihan (Ireland), Maria Elena Delia (Italy), Saif Abukeshek (Palestine and Spain), Muhammad Nadir Al-Nuri (Malaysia), Marouan Ben Guettaia (Algeria), Wael Nawar (Tunisia), Hayfa Mansouri (Tunisia), and Torkia Chaibi (Tunisia).
What does the flotilla aim to do?
The GSF claim they are the âlargest civilian maritime mission organised to break Israelâs illegal siege on Gazaâ. They initially set sail from Barcelona on 31 August, carrying food, water and medicine, but were forced to turn back due to adverse weather conditions.
On 2 September their voyage resumed, setting sail for Gaza across the Mediterranean Sea. The flotilla arrived in Tunisia last month, where they were greeted by hundreds of supporters.
A week after leaving Tunisia, the GSF said one of their boats was attacked by a drone in Tunisian waters. However, Tunisian authorities said the fire on board may have been caused by a cigarette.
Israeli national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is said to be drafting up plans to convert the ships into a police fleet.
How did Israel stop the previous aid boat reaching Gaza?
Israel has not reacted kindly to previous flotillas destined for Gaza. In June, a boat carrying a number of activists â including Ms Thunberg â was boarded by Israeli military forces around 185km off the coast of Gaza and transported to Israel, with many of its passengers detained and eventually expelled.
A pre-recorded video of Ms Thunberg posted on the X account of Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) alleged the activists were âintercepted and kidnappedâ. She called on her supporters to put âpressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possibleâ.
Israeli officials dubbed the vessel the âselfie yachtâ and said the group would be taken to the port of Ashdod, from where they would return to their home countries. Israel Katz, the countryâs defence minister, said he had instructed the military to show the flotilla passengers videos of the 7 October massacres when they arrive in Israel.
He claimed it was necessary for âGreta and her fellow Hamas supporters to see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organisation they came to support and for whom they work is, what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly, and children, and against whom Israel is fighting to defend itselfâ.
Israelâs almost two-year-long war in Gaza has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Strip. Israelâs offensive began following a Hamas-led militant attack on southern Israel in October 2023, where 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 250 were taken hostage.
