Greta Thunberg Once Again Detained by Israel While Carrying Aid to Gaza
On Thursday, Israeli forces intercepted about 40 boats carrying aid to Gaza and detained hundreds of people onboard, including Greta Thunberg, organizers said. The convoy, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, was headed to Gaza with supplies, including food, baby formula, and medicine, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians inside Israel’s blockade face what leading experts have called a “man-made” famine.
Flotilla organizers said more than 400 people were “abducted and reportedly taken aboard” an Israeli naval ship. “This was after they were assaulted with water cannons, doused with skunk water, and had their communications systematically jammed in yet more acts of aggression against unarmed civilians,” they added.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a post on X that none of the boats had breached the blockade. One vessel “remains at a distance” and has not yet been intercepted, though it vowed it would be if it attempted to proceed.
According to organizers, the people onboard came from dozens of different countries, including France, Spain, Poland, and the U.K. The flotilla set sail from Barcelona on Sunday. The ministry also said the activists had been taken into custody and would be deported to Europe. “Greta and her friends are safe and healthy,” it said.
This is the second time Thunberg has been taken into Israeli custody while attempting to deliver aid on one of the many missions organized by activists, whom are frequently targeted by Israeli forces. In June, she and 11 other activists were deported after their ship, the Madleen, was intercepted by Israeli forces. After arriving in Paris on her way back to Sweden, Thunberg told reporters the conditions she faced during her detainment were “absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine and especially Gaza right now.”
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