Israel says to block Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
TEL AVIV
Activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, board the Madleen boat, ahead of setting sail for Gaza, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025.
Israel's defense minister on Sunday ordered the military to block an aid boat headed for Gaza with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
"I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza," Israel Katz said in a statement from his office.
"To Greta the antisemite and her companions, Hamas propaganda mouthpieces, I say clearly: turn back because you will not reach Gaza," Katz said.
The organizers of the Madleen's voyage said Saturday they had reached Egyptian waters and were nearing Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 21st month.
The Madleen, a sailing boat operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the stated aim of delivering humanitarian aid and breaking the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territory.
"Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas - a murderous terrorist group holding our hostages and committing war crimes," Katz said.
"Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or support terror groups - by sea, air or land," he added.
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
On Sunday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,880, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable.
10 killed in Israeli attacks
Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli attacks on Sunday killed at least 10 people including two girls in the Palestinian territory, as the Israel-Hamas war entered its 21st month.
"Five martyrs and dozens of wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on civilians at around 6:00 am", agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution centre west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.
The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
Asked to comment on the latest killings, the Israeli military said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings.
It said the area around the distribution point had been declared an "active combat zone" at night.
"Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire," eyewitness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP.
Outside the Nasser hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body-bags.
"I can't see you like this," said Lin al-Daghma by her father's body, while a man lay over his brother's corpse.
They gave the same account as Din, and spoke of the struggle to access food aid after more than two months of a total Israeli blockade of Gaza, despite a recent easing.
Dozens of people have been killed near distribution points since late May, according to the civil defense.
Bassal said another five people, including two young girls, were killed around at 1:00 am in a strike that hit a tent in the Al-Mawasi displaced persons camp in southern Gaza.
