June 8 (UPI) -- The Israeli military on Monday boarded a small civilian maritime vessel -- previously bound for Gaza with humanitarian aid -- and rerouted those on board toward Israel's shores, the foreign ministry said.
In a post on X early Monday morning, the Israel Foreign Ministry said the crew of the vessel, the Madleen, were "safe and unharmed."
"They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over," said the post, which included a video of the crew receiving packages of food.
In a post on Telegram Monday at 2:49 a.m., the crew of the Madleen said it was "currently under assault in international waters."
"Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white irritant substance," the post said. "Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio."
By 3:02 a.m., the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a news release, the ship had been "attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military."
Israel had said it would use "any means necessary" to stop a flotilla of boats carrying a dozen pro-Palestinian activists and aid from reaching Gaza, and was attempting to stop the boats from breaching an Israeli naval brigade.
The Madleen was carrying activist Greta Thunberg, and was 160 nautical miles off the coast of Egypt on Monday morning, according to a ship tracker. Local reports said the Madleen's communication systems may have been interfered with so the boat's exact location was unknown, according to the Times of Israel.
The Madleen is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition carrying aid to the region that set sail from Sicily on June 1. European Parliamentarian Rima Hassan was also aboard the Madleen.
While the small boat is said to be carrying aid and activists, Israel has said it is critical to prevent weapons smuggling into the region. Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza in 2007, but it has intensified since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, killing more than 1,200 people. The ensuing battle has left tens of thousands of Gazans dead.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz was leading efforts to keep the Madleen, which the foreign ministry said was carrying a "single truckload of aid," from reaching Gazans.
"There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip -- they do not involve Instagram selfies," the foreign ministry said on X.
"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."
Israel and Egypt imposed the aid blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Islamist militant group seized the coastal strip in 2007. Israel has said it is not trying to limit aid to effected Gazans but, rather, said it imposed the blockade to prevent weapons smuggling into to the enclave.
Huwaida Arraf, a human rights lawyer and organizer with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said Israel had no authority to detain those on board the Madleen.
"This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the [International Court of Justice's] binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza," she said.
"These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockage -- their detention is arbitrary, unlawful and must end immediately."
Israel recently imposed an 80-day block on humanitarian aid to Gazans, which has the region on the precipice of famine, international aid organizations have said.
This is the latest in a series of moves by Israel to stop aid deliveries to the region, following an attempt in April that stopped a ship called the Conscience after it left Tunisia and was scheduled to pick up more activists and humanitarian aid in Malta.
The Conscience was set on fire by Israeli-backed explosions that set it on fire off the coast of Malta.
