The boat carrying Greta Thunberg and other activists seeking to bring symbolic aid to Gaza has arrived at an Israeli port, after Israel intercepted the flotilla.
Adalah, a legal rights group representing the activists, said at 10pm local time they had received confirmation that the group were being held at Ashdod port and were undergoing processing before being handed over to Israeli immigration authorities.
Demanding access to the passengers of the British-flagged yacht Madleen – which had sought to break the naval blockade on Gaza – Adalah said: “Unless they agree to leave immediately, they will be transferred to the detention facility in Ramleh.
“While authorities have indicated that those who consent to deportation may be allowed to fly out from Tel Aviv tonight, it’s unclear what conditions – such as signing documents or waiving rights – may be imposed.”
Earlier, organisers of the Freedom Flotilla, said there had there been no contact with the 12 international activists for nearly 19 hours after the ship was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters at around 2am on Monday.
Warning that the activists had been “forcibly abducted” while sailing peacefully under international law, organiser Huwaida Arraf told Al Jazeera that Israel “has no authority” to maintain its blockade on Gaza – and criticised the UK government for failing to issue a strong condemnation of the UK-flagged vessel’s seizure.
Downing Street on Monday afternoon urged Israel to act “safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law”, and described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “appalling and intolerable”.
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the Strip, where more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign launched after Hamas’s attacks on 7 October 2023 killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, with 250 others taken hostage.
The flotilla, which is the latest in a long line of activist attempts to break the blockade of Gaza, sought to raise international awareness of the crisis in Gaza and deliver a small amount of aid, including rice and baby formula.
During one previous flotilla in May 2010, nine people were killed after Israeli commandos opened fire on activists after boarding the flagship vessel 90 miles from Gaza. Just last month, two drones hit another vessel destined for Gaza while it was off the coast of Malta.
In a video filmed before the Madleen was captured, released by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, 22-year-old activist Thunberg said: “If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel.
“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
However, speaking outside the Swedish parliament on Monday, foreign minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said she did not believe Ms Thunberg was in need of support from Stockholm, adding: “A great responsibility rests on those who choose to travel contrary to the advice.”
Speaking as protestors gathered in Stockholm to demand action, Ms Stenergard condemned a “dangerous” campaign to flood her ministry with calls, adding: “The consequence is that Swedes in need abroad have to wait in line for far too long.”
But the Swedish foreign ministry said it was in contact with Israeli authorities, telling Reuters: “Should the need for consular support arise, the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess how we can best help the Swedish citizen/Greta Thunberg resolve her situation.”
With Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz claiming he had instructed the military to show “antisemitic Greta and her Hamas-supporting friends” footage of the 7 October attacks upon their arrival in Ashdod, Israel’s foreign ministry also sought to dismiss the flotilla as a stunt.
The ministry said on social media: “The ‘Selfie Yacht’ docked at Ashdod Port a short while ago. The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health.”
“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, days after Israel’s controversial new “aid plan” descended into chaos, with reports of stampedes and guns being fired at starving crowds.
In a fresh warning on Monday, the United Nations said families in Gaza are “hanging on by a thread” with the aid reaching the Strip remaining “critically insufficient”.
As well as tightly controlling air and land deliveries into Gaza – permitting no supplies to enter for three months earlier this year – Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the Strip since Hamas took control in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the militant group.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese – who has supported the Freedom Flotilla operation – urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade.
“Madleen’s journey may have ended, but the mission isn’t over. Every Mediterranean port must send boats with aid [and] solidarity to Gaza,” she said.
