Turkey slammed Israel for intercepting a Gaza-bound boat carrying activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, early on Monday, describing it as a “heinous attack”.
The Madleen left Italy on June 1 to raise awareness over food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has described as the “hungriest place on Earth”, with the entire population at risk of famine.
“The intervention by Israeli forces on the ‘Madleen’ ship, while sailing in international waters, is a clear violation of international law,” Turkey said, calling it a “heinous attack” by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a statement, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said Israeli troops “forcibly intercepted” the vessel in international waters at 0102 GMT as it was approaching the Gaza Strip.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said there were Turkish nationals among those on board, with FFC’s website indicating there were 12 people from seven countries, including Turkey.
Two of them hold Turkish passports.
Gaza’s Hamas rulers condemned the move in a statement that said the Madleen was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
A Turkish foreign ministry source said the boat was “expected to reach land in the evening” and that its consular officials had taken “the necessary initiatives to meet them as soon as they disembark from the ship and to ensure their release”.
“We are also in contact with other countries whose citizens are on board. The families of our citizens are being regularly updated,” the source added.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported it was struck by drones in an attack the group blamed on Israel.
The ministry earlier said Israel’s “aggressive and lawless attitude will not silence the voices defending human values” and that the international community’s “justified reaction to Israel’s genocidal policies, which use hunger as a weapon in Gaza and prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, will continue”.
The boat’s interception came just over 15 years after Israeli commandos staged a botched raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying activists to Gaza, killing 10 civilians – all of them Turkish nationals.
The assault sparked a years-long diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel, which only restored full diplomatic ties in 2022 – in a reconciliation which has since been shattered by Israel’s war on Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians.
Israel has hit back with force in an ongoing military assault that Gaza’s health ministry says has killed at least 54,880 people, mostly civilians.
‘Gaza humanitarian blockade a shameful scandal’
French President Emmanuel Macron also said Monday the humanitarian blockade of Gaza was a “scandal” and “shameful”, calling for the reopening of humanitarian supply routes.
Macron also called for a truce in the besieged Palestinian territory as tens of thousands of people staged rallies across France after Israel stopped the boat carrying a dozen activists, including Greta Thunberg, from reaching Gaza.
The rallies in Paris and at least five other cities were called by left-wing parties. Jean-Luc Melenchon, head of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, called the seizure of the Gaza boat by the Israeli military “piracy”.
Macron, meanwhile, urged the immediate liberation of French nationals among the 12 activists on the vessel.
Macron had “requested that the six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible,” his office said.
France was “vigilant” and “stands by all its nationals when they are in danger,” he added. The French government had also called on Israel to ensure the “protection” of the activists. Macron also called the humanitarian blockade of Gaza “a scandal” and a “disgrace”.
Gaza-bound aid boat reaches Israeli port
Meanwhile, the Gaza-bound aid boat reached Israel’s Ashdod port on Monday after being intercepted by Israeli forces, preventing the dozen activists on board, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory.
An AFP photographer said that the Madleen reached the port north of Gaza at around 8:45pm (1745 GMT), escorted by the Israeli navy.
At around 4:02am (0102 GMT) on Monday, Israeli troops “forcibly intercepted” the vessel as it approached Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped,” Thunberg said in pre-recorded footage shared by the coalition.
Video from the group shows the activists with their hands up as Israeli forces boarded the vessel, with one of them saying nobody was injured prior to the interception.
Israel’s foreign ministry, in a post on social media, said “all the passengers of the ‘selfie yacht’ are safe and unharmed”, adding it expected the activists to return to their home countries.
On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place for years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.
