Israel Intercepted The Flotilla With Greta Thunberg.
- 2.10.2025, 7:52
In a number of countries, people have come out to protest.
Ships of the Israeli Navy intercepted a flotilla of 44 boats that was heading to the Gaza Strip on a humanitarian mission. One of the boats was carrying Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg.
This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the page.html">RBC-Ukraine with reference to the social media pages of the Sumud Global Flotilla (which was heading to Gaza), the Freedom Flotilla and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
It is noted that at the time of the arrest, the ships were about 112 kilometers from the coast.
The representatives of the "Sumud" flotilla noted that some of their ships with passengers were intercepted and seized by the Israelis, while the rest continued to the Gaza Strip.
The organization released a video featuring Greta Thunberg and said that Israel's actions are an illegal detention of activists. French MEP Emma Foureau is also among those detained.
The Freedom Flotilla, which is not the first time it has attempted to organize missions to deliver aid to the enclave, noted that this time "honest people were kidnapped" because their actions did not break any laws. But, according to them, Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip are a crime, which can be considered genocide.
On the eve of the incident, Greta said on her Instagram that stopping the flotilla would be a war crime on the part of Tel Aviv, because it would be "a violation of international maritime and humanitarian law." She emphasized that Israel has no right to block the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the enclave.
The Israeli government called the Sumud flotilla's journey a provocation. The country's Foreign Ministry recalled that Israel, Italy, Greece and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have repeatedly offered the mission participants safe ways to deliver aid to Gaza.
Before the incident, the Israeli side officially warned that the ships were moving into the war zone and violating the current naval blockade.
"Greta and her companions are safe and feeling well," the ministry said.
Italian Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barro said Israel had promised not to use force against the more than 500 people on board, among them politicians from France and Italy, the BBC wrote.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed mass starvation among residents of Gaza City.
Protests in Europe
In the meantime, protests erupted in several European countries amid the detention of participants in the Global Sumud mission.
Thousands of people took to the streets of Florence, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Athens, Barcelona, Ankara and Istanbul.
In particular, in Italy, protesters blocked railroad tracks. In Istanbul and Barcelona, thousands of people rallied in front of Israeli consulates.
In Ankara, people are protesting in front of the U.S. Embassy. And in Berlin, police detained a Jewish activist who was supporting the Sumud flotilla.
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