ISTANBUL: Türkiye slammed Israel for intercepting a Gaza-bound boat carrying activists including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg early on Monday, describing it as a "heinous attack". The Madleen left Italy on June 1 to raise awareness over food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has described as the "hungriest place on Earth", with the entire population at risk of famine. "The intervention by Israeli forces on the 'Madleen' ship.. while sailing in international waters is a clear violation of international law," Türkiye said, calling it as a "heinous attack" by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a statement, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said Israeli troops "forcibly intercepted" the vessel in international waters at 0102 GMT as it was approaching the Gaza Strip. Türkiye's foreign ministry said there were Turkish nationals among those on board, with FFC's website indicating there were 12 people from seven countries, including Türkiye. Two of them hold Turkish passports. Gaza's Hamas rulers condemned the move in a statement that said the Madleen was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
A Turkish foreign ministry source said the boat was "expected to reach land in the evening" and that its consular officials had taken "the necessary initiatives to meet them as soon as they disembark from the ship and to ensure their release". "We are also in contact with other countries whose citizens are on board. The families of our citizens are being regularly updated," the source added.
The ministry earlier said Israel's "aggressive and lawless attitude will not silence the voices defending human values" and that the international community's "justified reaction to Israel's genocidal policies, which use hunger as a weapon in Gaza and prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, will continue".
The boat's interception came just over 15 years after Israeli commandos staged a botched raid on the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship carrying activists to Gaza, killing 10 civilians — all of them Turkish nationals. The assault sparked a years-long diplomatic crisis between Türkiye and Israel, which only restored diplomatic ties in 2022 — in a reconciliation which has since been shattered by Israel's war on Gaza's rulers.
France on Monday said it would work to ensure the rapid return home of French citizens aboard a boat carrying aid bound for Gaza that was intercepted by Israeli security forces. President Emmanuel Macron has requested that the six French nationals aboard the Madleen "be allowed to return to France as soon as possible", a presidential official said, asking not to be named, while Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Paris would work "to facilitate their swift return to France".
Iran on Monday condemned Israel's interception of a Gaza-bound aid vessel carrying international activists, describing it as an act of piracy. "The assault on this flotilla — since it happened in international waters — is considered a form of piracy under international law," foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told a press briefing in Tehran.
On Saturday, Israeli forces had killed at least 36 Palestinians, six of them in a shooting near a US-backed aid distribution centre. The Israeli military said that troops had fired "warning shots" at individuals it said were "advancing in a way that endangered the troops". The shooting deaths were the latest reported near the aid centre run by the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) in the southern district of Rafah, and came after it resumed distributions following a brief suspension in the wake of similar deaths earlier this week.
The GHF, officially a private effort with opaque funding, began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month-long aid blockade. UN agencies and major aid groups have declined to work with it, citing concerns it serves Israeli military goals. On Saturday, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said that the overall toll for the Gaza war had reached 54,772, the majority civilians. The UN considers these figures reliable. — AFP
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