Like Aviv, Israel (AP) – The government of Israel promised on Sunday to prevent an aid boat transporting Greta Thunberg and other activists to reach the Gaza Strip.
The Minister of Defense Israel Katz said that Israel would not allow anyone to break his naval blockade from the Palestinian territory, which, according to him, aimed to prevent Hamas from importing weapons.
“At the anti-Semitic propagandists and his Hamas propagandist colleagues-I will say it clearly: you should go back, because you will not be in Gaza,” he said in a statement.
Thunberg, a climate activist, is one of the 12 activists aboard the Madleen, which is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. The ship left Sicily last Sunday in a mission that aims to break the Gaza maritime blockade and to provide humanitarian aid, while raising awareness of the growing 20-month humanitarian crisis in the War of Israel-Hamas.
The activists said that they planned to reach the territorial waters of Gaza on Sunday on Sunday.
Thiago Ávila, a Brazilian activist aboard the boat, published a video on social networks Sunday afternoon, saying that someone seemed to block their monitoring and communication devices at around 160 sea miles from Gaza.
Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian origin, is among the others on board. It was forbidden to enter Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies to the Palestinians.
After a total blockade of 2 and a half months aimed at putting pressure on Hamas, Israel began to authorize basic aid in Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers warned against famine unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.
An attempt last month by Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza by sea failed after another of the group’s ships was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed various degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized the power of rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Critics of the blockade say that this is equivalent to a collective punishment of around 2 million Gaza Palestinians.
Israel sealed Gaza with all help in the first days of the war fired by the attack led by Hamas against southern Israel on October 7, 2023, but then gave in American pressure. At the beginning of March, shortly before Israel has ended a ceasefire with HamasThe country has again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medication.
Activists led by Hamas killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, during the October 7 attack and removed 251 hostages, more than half of which have since been released in cease-fire agreements or other agreements. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half of them believed dead.
The military campaign of Israel killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which said that women and children make up most of the dead. This does not say if those who are killed are civilians or fighters.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and moved around 90% of the population of the territory, leaving people who depend almost completely on international aid.
