Israel Intercepts Gaza Aid Ship, Shows Activists Raw Footage of Hamas Massacre Before Deportation
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israeli forces bringing water and sandwiches for the crew intercepted an aid boat bound for Gaza while carrying Greta Thunberg and other prominent activists.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed that it detained the Madleen early Monday along with all its passengers, and diverted the vessel to Israel.
Thunberg, the famed autistic climate activist-turned-pro-Palestine-warrior from Sweden, was seen smiling as a female Israeli soldier handed her a sandwich and a bottle of water, footage showed.
On social media, commentators were quick to point out that she had received “more supplies than Gaza hostages [may] get in a month in the dungeons from Hamas.”
However, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the Israeli military had “attacked” and “unlawfully boarded” the “Madleen,” which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.
A video from the ministry posted on the social media platform X showed an Israeli Navy officer engaging with the approaching “selfie yacht”.
“The Israeli Navy is currently communicating with the “selfie yacht”. Using an international civilian communication system, the Israeli Navy has instructed the “selfie yacht” to change its course due to its approach toward a restricted area,” the Israel Foreign Ministry said.
CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
The video showed a Navy officer telling them that the maritime area of the Gaza coast is closed to traffic. She instructed the activists on board to deliver aid through established channels.
The vessel was due to arrive in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, and the activists were expected to be released later.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for the “protection” of the activists’ safety, while a United Nations official asked for more ships to “sail together” to “bring aid” to Gaza, despite Israel saying it provides aid through official channels.
The Israel Foreign Ministry said the passengers were “safe and unharmed” and had been provided sandwiches and water.
“The show is over,” the ministry said.
Israel had vowed to stop the so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition in the days leading up to its arrival.
Thunberg, 22, set sail aboard the Madleen last week, hoisting a Palestinian flag with 11 other activists, including “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassa, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent.
AIMING FOR GAZA
The group said its aim was to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip, bring in some aid, and raise awareness of the “humanitarian crisis” there.
However, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs said the aid on the ship was less than a single truckload. “The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” the ministry said.
Millions of meals have already been distributed through the Israel and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), officials say, despite reported Hamas death threats.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that he instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to screen raw footage of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Jews, before they are being deported.
“The world must not forget what happened,” Katz said. “Anyone seeking to ‘help Gaza’ must first confront the barbarity unleashed by Hamas.”
The disturbing footage reportedly included graphic scenes of civilians—some of them children—being slaughtered and mutilated, their bodies piled together in a grotesque mass of human carnage. The screening was intended to confront the activists with the human cost of Hamas terrorism before they are deported.
Some social media commentators suggested that they hope Thunberg and other activists will open the eyes to the suffering that sparked Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
ABANDONING CLIMATE CAUSE?
“Now that Greta Thunberg’s flotilla is approaching its destination, it’s worth pointing out that the 22-foot (6.70-meter) yacht carrying 12 people isn’t promoting anything besides PR for Greta herself, who, having abandoned the climate cause once it went out of style, is now chasing something trendier,” wrote Ella Kenan, founder of the BrightMind enterprise, a travel content creator.
Kenan, who said she was “fortunate enough to have traveled to 83 countries and see the world,” added that the boat “carries no humanitarian aid, nor anything that actually helps the people of Gaza.”
“How sad is it that all that remains of a young girl who once wanted to change the world is a performance of provocation and two-cent moral superiority?” Kenan noted.
However, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry counters that Israel’s war in Gaza, sparked by the massacre and abduction of 251 others from Israel, has killed more than 54,000 people.
It does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in the death toll provided.
Israel and other sources estimate that about 20,000 Hamas fighters were killed.
Hamas has also been accused of using civilians as “human shields” and not providing adequate air raid shelters, which they instead turned into military tunnels.
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