Thunberg on a protest course: Israel's military plans to interception!

Thunberg on a protest course: Israel's military plans to interception!

Gazastreifen, Palästina - The yacht "Madleen", under British flag, has been on its way to the Gaza Strip since June 6th. Climate activists Greta Thunberg and other activists who want to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip are on board. They transport a symbolic amount of relief goods such as rice and baby food. Despite the challenging circumstances, Thunberg rejected allegations of anti -Semitism and repeatedly positioned itself for the Palestinians, which brought her both support and criticism. The activists are currently accused Israel of disturbing their communication devices in order to prepare a possible interception. According to information from Kleine Zeitung, Israeli armed forces are planning to intercept the yacht and to escort to the port ashdod.

In a statement by Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz, it becomes clear that the army should prevent the ship's arrival. Katz described the people on board as "left -wing extremist activists" and emphasized that nobody should break through the sea blockade of the Gaza Strip. This blockade, which has existed since 2007, was introduced by Israel due to the takeover of Hamas to prevent weapons deliveries. The Tagesschau reported that the activists, including Yasemin Acar from Germany, assure that there are no weapons on board.

The humanitarian location in the Gaza Strip

The Gaza Strip is currently under considerable pressure, and the UN warns that 2.3 million people are threatened with hunger there. The blockade by Israel has led to the fact that delivery and goods deliveries are severely restricted. The Egyptian government has criticized Israel to use hunger as a weapon. According to the [Deutschlandfunk] (https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/rotes-kreuz-agypt-criticizing-blockade-von-auxiliary deliveries-ISAL-100.html), the blockade was a result of the refusal of Hamas to accept an extension of the fire break, which further tightens the situation for the affected people.

Egypt has offered itself as an intermediary in the negotiations and asks all pages involved to maintain the armistice and improve the humanitarian conditions. Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian EU MP, emphasizes the need to end the Israeli blockade and point out the catastrophic location in the Gaza Strip. She herself was denied entry to Israel in February.

The current developments related to the "Madleen" yacht is again drawn attention to the devastating effects of the blockade. Against the background of another incident in which Israeli command units entered the Turkish ship "Mavi Marmara" in 2010 and killed ten people, the concerns about the safety of the activists have increased.