Overview Israel wants to stop activist ship, killed reported to the GHF aid point

Israel wants to stop activist ship, killed at the GHF aid point

The Israeli Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, has reportedly ordered the army to prevent a ship carrying activists from sailing to Gaza. One of the passengers is the Swede Greta Thunberg, best known as a climate activist.

It concerns the ship Madleen, which is part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition. There are twelve people on board, with the Dutchman Mark van Rennes as captain. The French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan is also sailing along. The other crew members come from Turkey, Brazil, Spain and Germany.

There are also relief goods on board the Madleen. “We will try to end the siege and open humanitarian corridors to Gaza,” Thunberg tells Al Jazeera.

The ship was previously located on Sunday off the Egyptian city of Port Said, about 160 nautical miles from Gaza (296 kilometers).

Crew is prepared for an attack

In a message on X, Katz writes that the Israeli army will not shy away from any means to stop the ship. He calls Thunberg “anti-Semitic” and a “mouthpiece of Hamas.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says in a response on X that the minister is “threatening with undue violence” and wants the international community to call on Israel not to take action against the Madleen and its crew. The passengers are prepared for the possibility of being attacked, the message states. Drones have already flown over the ship. The crew also says that their radar has been jammed for some time.

“We remain mobilized until the last moment, until Israel shuts down the internet and networks,” Hassan tells news agency AFP.

Hassan is concerned about the lack of an official response from countries whose citizens are on board. There are citizens of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands on the boat.

“No state has responded,” she says. “The message is that Israel may act with impunity, without any guarantee of protection for us.” She emphasizes: “there are twelve citizens on board. We are not armed. We are only transporting humanitarian aid.”

More deaths reported at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution location

There have reportedly been deaths among people who were on their way to an emergency aid point of the controversial aid organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in Rafah. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, four people have died. Al Jazeera claims, based on local aid workers, that the death toll is 13.

The army tells Israeli media, including The Times of Israel, that warning shots were fired because a group was moving towards Israeli soldiers and was seen as a threat. Those involved were reportedly warned verbally to leave the area earlier.

The area around the aid location is considered a combat zone at night. But because of the hunger and the fact that there are currently only distribution points in the south of Gaza, many residents set out very early. Along routes that are therefore unclear and dangerous.

The GHF decided not to distribute relief goods on Wednesday and Thursday morning in order to make adjustments to the locations and access routes. No food was distributed again on Saturday. There have reportedly been threats by Hamas to the employees of the GHF.

Image from Video: Aid Ship With Greta Thunberg Despite Israeli Threat en Route to Gaza0:40

Aid ship with Greta Thunberg despite Israeli threat en route to Gaza

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