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The Israeli government vowed to prevent aid ships that prevent Greta Samberg and other activists from reaching the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
Israeli Defense Minister Katz said he would not allow Israel to break the naval blockade of Palestinian territory.
“To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists – I’ll say this clearly: you’re not going to Gaza, so you should come back,” he said in a statement.
Climate activist Samberg is among 12 activists riding Madrien, run by the Freedom Frotira coalition. The ship departed Sicily last Sunday, raising awareness of the growing humanitarian crisis 20 months after the Israeli-Hamas war, with a mission aimed at breaking the Gaza sea blockade and providing humanitarian aid.
Activists said they plan to reach Gaza territory as early as Sunday.
Thiagoavila, a Brazilian activist on the boat, posted a video on social media on Sunday afternoon, saying that someone appears to be packing tracking and communications equipment around 160 nautical miles from Gaza.
Lima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament of Palestinian descent, is among others. She has been forbidden from entering Israel because of her opposition to Israeli policies against the Palestinians.
After a 25-month total lockdown aimed at putting pressure on Hamas, Israel began granting basic aid to Gaza last month, but humanitarian workers warned of hunger unless the blockade was lifted and Israel ended its military attacks.
Last month, Freedom’s fleet’s attempt to reach Gaza failed after another ship on the group’s ship was attacked by two drones while sailing in international waters off Malta. The group denounced Israel for attacks that damaged the front of the ship.
Israel and Egypt have imposed various degrees of lockdown on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Israel sealed Gaza out of all aid early in the war that was fired by a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, but later relented under US pressure. In early March, just before Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas, the country once again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicine.
Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians in the attack on October 7, and accused 251 hostages, with more than half of them being released in ceasefire contracts or other transactions. Hamas still holds 55 hostages, more than half of them are believed to be dead.
Israel’s military campaign killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. It’s not that they say whether the person killed is a civilian or a combatant.
The war destroys the vast areas of Gaza, expels about 90% of the territorial population, where people are almost entirely dependent on international aid.
Palestine UN ambassador Riyadh Mansour struggled to hold back tears Wednesday as he addressed the Security Council. “My mother accepts her immobilized body, loves her hair, speaks, and apologizes. I can’t stand this.”
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