Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the army to prevent a humanitarian ship carrying activists, including Swedish environmentalist Greta Tunberg, from arriving in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
"I ordered the IDF to prevent the Madleen ship from reaching Gaza. To the anti-Semitic Greta and her companions, the propaganda mouthpieces of (the Palestinian Islamist movement) Hamas, I say clearly: go back, because you will not reach Gaza," Katz said.
Expedition organizers aboard the Madeline said they had reached the Egyptian coast and were approaching the Gaza Strip, where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 21st month.
According to the organisers, the sailing boat, belonging to the Freedom Flotilla coalition, had set off from Sicily on June 1 with the aim of delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza and to "break the Israeli blockade" imposed on the Palestinian territory, AFP reported.
"The state of Israel will not allow anyone to violate the naval blockade of Gaza, the main purpose of which is to prevent the transfer of weapons to Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization that is holding our hostages and committing war crimes," Katz added.
"Israel will take action against any attempt to violate the blockade or aid terrorist organizations by sea, air or land," he added. | BGNES