Gaza-bound aid boat with Greta Thunberg on board arrives in Israel

JERUSALEM — A Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists arrived at an Israeli port Monday after Israeli forces stopped and detained them — enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the Israel-Hamas war.

The boat, accompanied by Israel’s navy, arrived in Ashdod in the evening, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. It published a photo on social media of Thunberg after disembarking.

The 12 activists were undergoing medical checks to ensure they are in good health, the ministry said. They were expected to be held at a detention facility in Ramle before being deported, according to Adalah, a legal rights group representing them.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry portrayed the voyage as a public relations stunt, saying on social media that “the ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel.”

It said the activists would return to their home countries and the aid would be sent to Gaza through established channels. It circulated footage of what appeared to be Israeli military personnel handing out sandwiches and water to the activists, who were wearing life vests.

Israeli officials said the flotilla carried what amounted to less than a truckload of aid.

“This wasn’t humanitarian aid. It’s Instagram activism,” Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said. “Meanwhile, Israel has delivered over 1,200 truckloads in the last two weeks. So who’s really feeding Gaza and who’s really feeding their own ego? Greta was not bringing aid, she was bringing herself.”

The activists had set out to protest Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the voyage, said the activists were “kidnapped by Israeli forces” while trying to deliver aid.

It said the ship was seized in international waters about 120 miles from Gaza, and Adalah asserted that Israel had “no legal authority” to take it over.

The Madleen set sail from Sicily a week ago. Along the way, it stopped on Thursday to rescue four migrants who had jumped overboard to avoid being detained by Libya’a coast guard.

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,” Thunberg said in a prerecorded message released after the ship was halted.

Six French citizens were on board. French President Emmanuel Macron called for consular protection and the repatriation of the French citizens.

Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said the crew and passengers were aware of the risks, Swedish news agency TT reported. Stenergard said the ministry’s assessment is that no one was in danger and there was no need for consular support.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms.

Israel sealed off Gaza from all aid in the early days of the war ignited by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, but later relented under U.S. pressure. In early March, shortly before Israel ended a ceasefire with Hamas, the country again blocked all imports.

Hamas-led terrorists killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7 attack and abducted 251 hostages. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half believed to be dead.

Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.

Efforts to broker another truce have been deadlocked for months. Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Israel has vowed to continue the war until all the captives are returned and Hamas is defeated, or disarmed and exiled.

Israeli forces and allied local gunmen fired toward a crowd heading to an Israeli- and U.S.-supported food distribution center in the Gaza Strip early Monday, Hamas terrorists said.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the private contractor running the sites, says there has been no violence in or around the centers themselves. But GHF repeatedly warns would-be food recipients that stepping off the road designated by the military for people to reach the centers represents “a great danger.” It paused delivery at its three distribution sites last week to discuss with the military about improving safety on the routes.

GHF closed the Rafah site on Monday due to the “chaos of the crowds,” according to a Facebook site associated with the group. A GHF spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the information Iran claimed it seized regarding Israel’s nuclear program “seems to refer” to the country’s Soreq Nuclear Research Center, the first acknowledgment outside of Tehran of the theft.

The office of Israel’s prime minister had no immediate response on the remarks by IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, who spoke during a news conference in Vienna.

The alleged theft comes at a time of renewed tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, which enriches uranium a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels and looks poised to reject a U.S. proposal over a possible deal on its atomic program.

“We have seen some reports in the press. We haven’t had any official communication about this,” Grossi told reporters. “In any case, this seems to refer to Soreq, which is a research facility which we inspect by the way. We don’t inspect other strategic parts of the program, but this part of the program we do inspect.”

Soreq, 12 miles south of Tel Aviv, is a national laboratory for nuclear science established in Israel in 1958, engaged in nuclear science, radiation safety and applied physics.