The Global Sumud Flotilla, which included climate activist Greta Tunberg as one of its passengers, was boarded by Israeli forces as it was bound for the Palestinian territory of Gaza
Israeli forces have boarded almost all of the 50-strong activist flotilla boats headed for Gaza, detaining dozens among 500 of the protesters trying to get aid into the enclave.
The Global Sumud Flotilla – which included climate activist Greta Thunberg – was stopped, with Israel’s Foreign Ministry declaring the operation over on Thursday. Israeli strikes and gunfire overnight and into Thursday killed at least 41 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas was still considering its response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal for ending the nearly two-year war.
It requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages – about 20 of them thought by Israel to be alive – give up power and disarm in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting. However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sets no path to Palestinian statehood.
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The flotilla, which started out with more than 40 boats and nearly 450 activists, was carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Its main goal, they said, remained “to break Israel’s illegal siege and end the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry dismissed it as a “provocation,” saying that various countries have offered to deliver the aid the boats were carrying. The organisers of the flotilla said at least 39 of their boats were intercepted or assumed intercepted in a nightlong Israeli operation.
Israeli authorities later said only one boat remained “at a distance” and would be intercepted. The Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered this war. Militants killed some 1,200 people that day, while 251 others were abducted.
Forty-eight hostages are still held in Gaza – around 20 believed to be alive. Israel’s ensuing campaign has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Israeli forces detained and removed dozens of people – including Greta Thunberg, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau and European Parliament member Rima Hassan – from the flotilla. Around 400,000 Palestinians have fled famine-stricken Gaza City since Israel launched a major offensive there last month.
On Thursday morning, smoke could be seen in northern Gaza and people were fleeing the area headed south.