Beirut, Lebanon (From International Waters)
Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, currently sailing towards Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, has vehemently condemned Israel for launching a coordinated smear campaign against the convoy, which Jerusalem claims is funded by Hamas.
In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Thunberg accused the Israeli government of attempting to pre-emptively justify a violent response. “Israel think they can get away with only recycling their old arguments to lay the groundwork for violence against us and justify their atrocities without addressing the evidence of them committing a genocide and continuously committing war crimes,” she wrote.
The activist insisted that the world “sees through their lies,” stating that the flotilla was operating in international waters with the sole aim of breaking “Israel’s unlawful and inhumane siege.” She warned that any attempt to intercept their boats would constitute “a violation against international humanitarian and maritime law.”
Thunberg emphasized that their humanitarian mission carries essential aid, including food, baby formula, and medical supplies, dismissing the notion that they are “terrorists” running “errands for Hamas.” She placed the blame for any potential seizure or imprisonment directly on international inaction, stating that such an outcome would be “a direct result of the failures of our governments,” who, she argued, have a responsibility to uphold human rights and not be complicit in a genocide.
Her post followed by hours the release of documents by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which they claimed pointed to Hamas funding the flotilla. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar escalated the rhetoric, referring to the convoy as the “Hamas-Sumud Flotilla” on X and urging those aboard to comply with a previous warning from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to halt the mission and avoid escalation amid talks of a US-led peace agreement.
Meanwhile, the flotilla’s social media page posted on Tuesday that they were 145 nautical miles from Gazan shores and had formally entered the “high risk zone,” where the Israeli navy typically intercepts and detains crews attempting to break the blockade. The leader of Pakistan’s delegation on the flotilla, former Senator Mushtaq Ahmed, confirmed that his boat had entered the zone after his phone was jammed by the Israelis.
This incident is set against a history of similar clashes. Two earlier boats that attempted to break the Israeli blockade, the Madleen and the Handala, were forcibly boarded by Israeli soldiers and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where those onboard were detained. Thunberg herself was aboard the Madleen and spent time in Israeli custody following its interception in June.
