Hours after the Israeli defense minister threatened military action against a tiny aid ship carrying activists attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, the IDF intercepted the boat and detained all on board. The dangerous vessel was armed with rice and baby formula.
Late on Sunday night, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the ship, named the ‘Madleen,’ was “under assault in international waters,” with quadcopter drones surrounding the vessel and “spraying it with a white irritant substance.”
The group later published a statement, saying the Madleen was “attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military at 3:02am [Central European Time] in international waters at 31.95236° N, 32.38880° E. The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – confiscated.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the ship had been intercepted, but added that the activists were “safe and unharmed.” In a follow-up post, it said the vessel was on its way to Israel and that the passengers were “expected to return to their home countries.”
At the time of writing, the Madleen was sailing through international waters off the coast of Egypt, north of Sinai, according to tracking data provided by the FFC.
Earlier on Sunday, Tel Aviv’s Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a warning to the ship, suggesting the IDF would use force to prevent it from bringing aid to Gazans:
“I have instructed the IDF to act to prevent the ‘Madleen’ hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza – and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end.
To the anti-Semitic Greta [Thunberg] and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.
Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or assist terrorist organizations – at sea, in the air, and on land.”
Katz’s statement contained one important admission: Israel does, in fact, maintain a blockade on aid entering Gaza.
For over a year, the propaganda emanating from Tel Aviv has claimed that Hamas was simply stealing international aid and preventing it from reaching starving Palestinians. And yet, Israel’s Minister of Genocide just acknowleged a full-blown blockade on humanitarian assistance.
As the Madleen approached Gaza over the weekend, the activists faced increasing harassment from Israel, including GPS jamming, as well as close calls with military speed boats and drones.
Israel has used violence to prevent activist aid ships from reaching Gaza on more than one occasion in the past – most recently last month, when a small FFC vessel headed for the enclave was struck by a drone in international waters.
In 2010, Israeli troops killed 10 activists after raiding another boat attempting to bring supplies to Gaza, with the UN concluding some were shot “in a manner consistent with an extra-legal, arbitrary and summary execution.”
The presence of Greta Thunberg, a climate activist widely known across the West, is likely the only thing that prevented a similarly bloody fate for the Madleen.
Fortunately, US Senator Lindsey Graham did not have his way. The lawmaker joked in a post last week: “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” – riffing on the hilarious and relatable premise of murdering unarmed civilians to stop them from feeding people desperately in need of aid.
This article originally appeared in the June 9 edition of the Libertarian Institute Debrief, our daily email newsletter.
