With Hamas refusing to accept the latest U.S. ceasefire proposal, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has set sail from the Italian island of Sicily to Gaza. The publicized aim of her stunt is to end the ‘siege’ of Gaza, the Israeli naval blockade to prevent Iranian weapons shipments from entering the Hamas-infested enclave.
Thunberg, who gained celebrity status for launching the ‘Fridays for Future’ movement, is sailing with a group of activists — in what appears to be a 45-foot luxury yacht.
“Greta Thunberg and 11 activists sail from Italy to Gaza to challenge the Israeli blockade, deliver humanitarian aid, and draw global attention to the crisis in the region,” the Euronews TV channel reported Monday. “Departing from Catania in southern Italy, their vessel, the Madleen, is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.”
Thunberg is accompanied by EU lawmaker Rima Hassan and “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham. In February, Hassan was banned from entering Israel for her anti-Israel activism, including her activism for the antisemitic boycott movement, or the BDS.
The 22-year-old climate activist from Sweden has entirely lost the plot, mutating in recent years into an anti-Israel agitator. She has been deeply involved in organizing anti-Israel protests since Hamas’s October 7 attack. In May 2024, Thunberg and her activist friends pitched tents inside a Stockholm University building, demanding an end to academic ties with Israeli institutions.
British writer and columnist Brendan O’Neill in the Daily Telegraph described Thunberg’s latest antics as “a self-serving stunt masquerading as a daring act of charity.”
“It will achieve precisely nothing for people in Gaza. If Gaza’s two million inhabitants really are being “systematically starved” – they aren’t – then how on earth will a small boat carrying little more than boxes of spare keffiyehs and turbo-smug activists help them?” O’Neill asked.
Thunberg’s so-called ‘Freedom Flotilla’ is the lastest in the series of violent flotillas aimed at breaching Israel’s legal naval blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Since Hamas took control of Gaza eighteen years ago, the Israeli Navy has been patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to prevent shipment of Iranian weapons to Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist groups.
In May 2010, nine people were killed when Israeli commandos boarding the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara were ambushed by the armed activists. The Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva noted that the “activists aboard the Mavi Marmara were armed with iron bars, knives and at least one handgun, and attacked the soldiers who boarded the ship.”
With the IDF facilitating the distribution of aid through a U.S.-backed humanitarian network across Gaza, Hamas is trying to disrupt the supplies from going to civilians.
Hamas has been angered at the joint U.S.-Israeli initiative to distribute aid directly to Gazans, bypassing the terrorist group. Millions of meals, along with other essential supplies, have been delivered to Gaza residents since several U.S.-backed aid centers became operational last week.
The Jerusalem Post cited an IDF report on Tuesday that talked about “Hamas’s efforts to prevent the distribution of food packages by an American company at three locations in Rafah.”
The newspaper continued:
Hamas has reportedly deployed armed operatives along pedestrian routes to intimidate civilians and prevent them from approaching the distribution centers. In some cases, according to the IDF spokesperson, Hamas terrorists fired live rounds at civilians to deter them. Despite this, residents have found ways to bypass the blockades—from the shelter areas to the distribution centers—in order to receive the food packages.
After airing fabricated claims of an Israeli massacre near an aid center over the weekend, suspected Hamas terrorists on Tuesday tried to ambush IDF troops in a bid to inflict civilian casualties.
Palestinian terrorist — hiding among civilians lined up to receive aid outside a distribution center — attempted to reach IDF soldiers positioned to secure the humanitarian operation, reports suggest.
“Earlier today (Tuesday), during the movement of the crowd along the designated routes toward the aid distribution site—approximately half a kilometer from the site—IDF troops identified several suspects moving toward them, deviating from the designated access routes,” the IDF said in a press statement. “The troops carried out warning fire, and after the suspects failed to retreat, additional shots were directed near a few individual suspects who advanced toward the troops.”
The IDF reiterated its commitment to ensure the flow of aid directly to the Gaza civilians. “The IDF allows the American Civil Organization (GHF) to operate independently in order to enable the distribution of aid to the Gazan residents — and not to Hamas,” the military explained.
“IDF troops are not preventing the arrival of Gazan civilians to the humanitarian aid distribution sites,” the statement assured. The warning shots were fired approximately half a kilometer away from the humanitarian aid distribution site toward several suspects who advanced toward the troops in such a way that posed a threat to them.”
With Hamas refusing to negotiate the release of remaining hostages, the IDF continued targeting terrorists and terror infrastructure in Gaza as Operation Gideon’s Chariots entered its fifth week.
Israeli troops “continue operational activity against terrorist organizations throughout the Gaza Strip. Over the past day, the troops eliminated several terrorists, dismantled weapons storage facilities, tunnel shafts, and numerous terrorist infrastructure sites both above and below ground,” the IDF disclosed Tuesday.
“IDF troops dismantled a combat center, where terrorist infrastructure sites, enemy ambush positions, and explosive device zones were identified,” the military said.
“Over the past day, the IAF struck dozens of terror targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorists, military structures, tunnels, and underground infrastructure. These targets posed a threat to the troops operating in the area,” the statement concluded.
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