The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz promised to block a help ship carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists to reach Gaza, by “any necessary means”.
The Madleen left Sicily last Sunday, aimed at breaking the naval blockade of Israel on Gaza, providing humanitarian aid and drawing attention to the worsening of the humanitarian crisis in the enclave.
According to a live tracker aboard the ship, he sailed north of the Egyptian coastal city in Rosetta on Sunday morning, about 160 naval miles from Gaza.
Katz said on Sunday that he had asked Israeli defense for “to prevent the” Madelaine “hate fleet from reaching the banks of Gaza”.
“At the Greta Anti-Semitic and its colleagues spokesperson for Hamas, I say clearly: you should go back-because you will not reach Gaza,” he posted on Telegram.
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or help terrorist organizations – in sea, in the air and on earth.”
On Sunday, a Madleen press agent Hay Sha Wiya, said that the crew “was preparing for the possibility of interception”.
They also said that the boat signal was blocked earlier during the day, showing the tracker live from the boat’s contact details as being in Jordan.
Among the people aboard the ship are Thiago Avila, Brazilian activist and politician, Rima Hassan, French member of the European Parliament, and Baptiste Andre, a French doctor who should help passengers injured in potential confrontations with Israeli forces.
“We are doing this because, no matter what chances we are, we have to keep trying,” said Thunberg last week.
“Because the moment when we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it is not even as dangerous as the silence of the whole world in front of the live genocide.”
Israel categorically rejected the allegations of genocide.
After the warnings of increasing famine in the enclave, in mid-May, Israel began to allow basic aid to Gaza, raising a total blockage of almost three months on the entrance to food, medicine and other vital supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was responsible for distributing aid in the enclave as part of a new plan supported by the United States and Israel, but its first two weeks of operation were tainted by the controversy. Health officials say ISRAEL killed dozens of Palestinians when they asked for help from the GHF distribution points.
And the experts warned that Gaza risked famine if no more aid is not brought.
A previous attempt at Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza failed last month after one of its ships was struck by two drones in international waters off Malta. The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the arc of the ship.
The Israeli government claims that the blockade is an attempted pressure from Hamas to release the hostages it took during October 7, 2023 led by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages took hostage, marking a major climbing in a conflict of decade.
Since then, more than 54,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Enclave, led by Hamas since 2007.
The Associated Press contributed.
