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Gaza-bound activist boat carrying Greta Thunberg towed to Israel

Jaroslav Lukiv
BBC News
Israel Foreign Ministry Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, wearing a black T-shirt, looks to her left. Two Israeli flags can be seen in the background. Israel Foreign Ministry
Israel's foreign ministry shared a picture of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, after Israeli forces intercepted the aid boat she was on

A yacht carrying 12 people that were trying to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza has been towed to the Israeli port city of Ashdod, after it was seized by Israeli forces.

Israel's foreign ministry said the boat had docked and that those aboard the vessel, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, were "undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health".

Organisers said the Madleen was aiming to bring a "symbolic" amount of aid to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli naval blockade. They said it was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters in the early hours of Monday.

Israel dismissed it as a "selfie yacht", saying it would deport the engers to their home countries.

The aid on board the Madleen includes rice and baby formula, organisers the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said.

Citizens of Brazil, , , the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Turkey are onboard the vessel - among them Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament, and Omar Faiad, a French journalist with Al Jazeera.

Earlier on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a swift return of six French activists on board the vessel and called on Israel to ensure the "protection" of the activists.

Sweden's foreign ministry said it was in with Israeli authorities in a statement shared with the Reuters news agency, while Turkey condemned the interception as a "heinous attack" in international waters.

FFC said it had not been allowed with any of the 12 engers since the vessel was intercepted by Israel in the early hours of Monday.

The boat set sail from Italy on 1 June to raise awareness of starvation conditions in Gaza.

Israel says its blockade on Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas fighters there.

Video shared by the FFC showed the activists sitting down in life jackets with their hands raised as Israeli forces boarded the boat. Those on board could be seen throwing mobile phones overboard.

Israel's foreign ministry shared footage of soldiers handing out sandwiches and water bottles to the activists after it was intercepted.

Watch: Moment Israeli forces board Gaza aid boat

After reporting that the yacht had been boarded, the FFC posted short, pre-recorded videos of some of the activists, including Thunberg.

In the footage, they say "if you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped" by the Israeli military or forces ing Israel.

On Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that Israel would act against any attempt to breach the blockade.

He wrote in a post on X: "I have instructed the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to act to prevent the 'Madeleine' [sic] hate flotilla from reaching the shores of Gaza - and to take whatever measures are necessary to that end."

The FFC has argued that the sea blockade is illegal, characterising Katz's statement as an example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians and "attempting to justify that violence with smears".

"We will not be intimidated. The world is watching," FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday.

"The Madleen is a civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights defenders from across the globe... Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza."

A map showing the journey of the Madleen yacht. It left the Italian city of Catania on 1 June and was intercepted by Israeli forces on 9 June, near the Ashdod port.

In 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists when they boarded the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was leading an aid flotilla towards Gaza.

Israel recently began to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month land blockade, prioritising distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is backed by Israel and the US but widely condemned by humanitarian groups.

The UN's human rights chief, Volker Türk, said last week Palestinians were being presented with the "grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available".

In a post on X early on Monday, the Israeli foreign ministry said: "While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity - and which included less than a single truckload of aid - more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.

"There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip - they do not involve Instagram selfies."

It is 20 months since Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led cross-border attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 54,880 people have been killed in Gaza since, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.