IDF expects Gaza flotilla within 24 hours, as it claims Israel downed navigation system
The group is carrying supplies for Gazan Palestinians and protesting what they say is “Israel’s “illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in the enclave.
Israeli navy vessels expect to encounter the Freedom Flotilla sailing to Gaza on Monday, a source told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
The flotilla is carrying pro-Palestinian activists who are headed to Gaza’s shores. Activist Greta Thunberg is reportedly on board the Madleen.
Israel plans to first order the flotilla to turn back. If this fails, a takeover will follow.
“We will calmly take control of the ships, bring them to Israel, and deport the people on board that same night,” an Israeli official told the Post.
Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the IDF on Sunday not to allow Thunberg’s flotilla to reach the shores of Gaza and to take “any measures necessary” to this end.
“I have instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen flotilla does not reach Gaza. To Greta, the antisemite, and to her friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
Accompanying Thunberg on the flotilla are 11 other pro-Palestinian activists, all foreign nationals, including one diplomat. “This is not the 2010 Marmara incident in terms of scale or issues involved, but it is undoubtedly a politically explosive matter,” the official noted.
After the defense minister officially announced that the IDF would not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip, Al Mayadeen reported that contact had been lost with the ship. The flotilla was last located in Egypt’s territorial waters.
Why have the activists undertaken their voyage, and what are people saying about them?
The ship’s passengers stated they would attempt to livestream the IDF’s takeover of the vessel. Throughout the day, they claimed that the military was trying to disrupt their navigation systems.“Suddenly, our systems showed us as being in Jordan,” the passengers reported.
According to Thunberg, the mood on the ship remains “uplifting” despite full awareness of the danger and risks involved.
“Standing idly by while a massacre unfolds is the real danger,” Thunberg said during a press conference held on board. “We see ourselves as obligated to act, not merely to issue condemnations from the sidelines.”
The group is carrying supplies for Gazan Palestinians and protesting what it says is “Israel’s “illegal, decades-long blockade and ongoing genocide” of the enclave.
Their voyage is operated by the pro-Palestinian nonprofit Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which has staged other naval efforts to reach Gaza by sea over the last 15 years.
The latest trip, which departed from Sicily and detoured to pick up Sudanese refugees, comes as the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza turns 20 months old and includes Thunberg, one of the most prominent progressive activists in the world.
This comes amid widespread criticism of Israel’s handling of aid to Gaza, where two million Palestinians live.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “basic aid” to enter Gaza last month amid growing concerns about starvation following Israel’s months-long aid blockade. Since Netanyahu’s announcement, aid distribution in Gaza has faced multiple setbacks.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Madleen is carrying baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.
London has so far rejected requests by Israel to deter the Madleen, which is flying under a UK flag, from approaching Israeli waters, according to The Times of Israel.
Last month, the leaders of France and the United Kingdom issued statements condemning Israel’s blockade on aid to Gaza.
Grace Gilson/JTA contributed to this report.
