Gaza— As Palestinians in Gaza are being killed by Israeli every day and systematically starved to death in unprecedented war crime, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz orders military to stop charity boat, Madleen, carrying 12 activists who are planning to defy the Israeli blockade and reach Gaza.
“I instructed the IDF to act so that the Madleen … does not reach Gaza,” Katz said in a statement.
On Sunday, Israel killed over 31 Palestinian civilians including children in Gaza more than 100 wounded as Israeli occupation forces opened fire on hungry Palestinians seeking aid in southern Gaza.
The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution center west of Rafah, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.
“Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire,” eyewitness told AFP.
The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality. Supported by the US, the GHF is designed to keep the starvation and genocide process going on.
Israel has killed many dozens of Palestinians near GHF distribution points since late May, according to a Gaza civil defense agency.
Among the activists on the boat there is the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.
“To the antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-propaganda-spouting friends, I say clearly: You’d better turn back, because you will not reach Gaza,” added Katz.
Thunberg said she joined the Madleen crew to “challenge Israel’s illegal siege and escalating war crimes” in Gaza and highlight the urgent need for humanitarian aid. She has rejected previous Israeli accusations of antisemitism.
FFC press officer Hay Sha Wiya said on Sunday the boat was currently some 160 nautical miles (296 km) from Gaza. “We are preparing for the possibility of interception,” she said.
More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli assault, according to Gaza health authorities, with much of the Palestinian territory reduced to rubble. The UN has repeatedly warned that most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
Operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the British-flagged Madleen yacht set sail from Sicily on June 6 and is currently off the Egyptian coast, heading slowly towards the Gaza Strip, which is besieged by Israel.