Israeli forces have attacked a humanitarian aid ship bound for Gaza as the vessel approached the coastal waters of the besieged Palestinian territory.
Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist on board the Madleen ship, said in a social media post on Monday morning that they were surrounded by Israeli army ships.
He added that the regime’s forces have attacked Madleen, a humanitarian aid vessel that was attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
"Connection has been lost on the 'Madleen'. The Israeli army has boarded the vessel," the Freedom Flotilla Coalition posted on Telegram, adding that Israeli forces kidnapped the passengers.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among 12 international campaigners aboard the Madleen. “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament of Palestinian descent, are also onboard the vessel.
Rima Hassan broadcast images of the sirens sounding on the ship.
Mahmud Abu-Odeh, a Germany-based press officer with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, told AFP that "the activists seemed to be arrested."
According to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine, five Israeli speedboats have reached the Madleen ship.
Francesca Albanese said the Madeleine crew has informed Israeli forces that they are carrying humanitarian aid and that they will leave safely.
“I heard the soldiers speaking while the captain was on the phone with me,” Albanese said.
“I lost connection with the captain as he was telling me that ‘another boat is approaching’.”
The new development came after Hamas warned the Israeli regime against taking any measure to stop the Madleen ship, holding the regime fully responsible for the lives of activists aboard it.
Earlier, the Israeli minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, threatened to block the aid ship from reaching Gaza, accusing Thunberg and fellow activists of being “Hamas propagandists.”
He had instructed the regime’s forces to take action "by land, sea, and air" to prevent the ship from reaching Gaza.
Blatant act of piracy
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned Israel's seizure of the Freedom Flotilla ship and its crew.
“We strongly condemn the cowardly and illegal Israeli attack on the Madleen’s as it approached Gaza with desperately needed humanitarian supplies,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.
“This is a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism,” he said.
“The Israeli occupation has no legal right to blockade the Gaza coast, much less to drop chemical weapons on humanitarian aid boats and abduct their passengers in international waters,” Awad added.
Awad called on the Israeli regime to immediately release the ship’s crew.
“We applaud Greta Thunberg and the other activists of the Madleen who bravely risked their safety and freedom to help the starving people of Gaza,” he said.
The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, set sail from Sicily last week carrying urgent humanitarian supplies for Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, desalination kits, medical aid, and children’s prosthetics.
Israeli drones hit a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience, in international waters off the coast of Malta on May 2.
The group condemned the attack at the time, calling it a clear “violation of international law.”
UN agencies and major aid groups have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. They say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.
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