An aid boat carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg as well as other activists was detained by Israeli forces Monday.
The Madleen was then diverted to Israel, Fox News reported.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video on X of the encounter with the activists.
“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 post read.
A Navy officer told the group the maritime of the Gaza coast is closed and the aid they intend on delivering needed to be sent another way.
The ministry said those on board the Madleen were “safe and unharmed.” They had been given sandwiches and water.
“The show is over,” the ministry said.
The fact the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was stopped is no surprise since Israel promised to prevent the boat from reaching Gaza.
The boat left southern Italy to bring aid to Gaza and increase “international awareness” to the humanitarian crisis playing out there, IJR reported last week.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg, 22, said, adding, “Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
Others on the boat include “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent. Hassan has been barred from going into Israel because of her opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza.
The aid, which the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs described was less than a single truckload, will still reach Gaza, according to Fox News.
“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,” per the ministry.
