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Israel Takes "All Necessary Measures" to Block Greta Thunberg's Boat

The boat carrying Thunberg and 11 other activists, a 60-foot yacht recently renamed Madleen (Freedom Flotilla Coalition)
The boat carrying Thunberg and 11 other activists, a 60-foot yacht recently renamed Madleen (Freedom Flotilla Coalition)

Published Jun 8, 2025 6:55 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

After Israel's defense minister vowed to take "all necessary measures" to prevent a 60-foot sailboat carrying activist Greta Thunberg from reaching the shores of Gaza, Israeli commandos interdicted the vessel in international waters, then persuaded the crew to transit to an Israeli port. 

Likud party Knesset member and current Minister of Defense Israel Katz said Sunday that he had given instructions to the Israel Defense Forces to block the vessel's progress, before it reached Gaza's shores. "You'd better turn back - because you will not reach Gaza," Katz warned the boat's operators, calling them a "hate flotilla" of "antisemitic" activists. 

Gaza has been under a strict Israeli naval blockade for nearly two decades, a policy intended to prevent the infiltration of arms for Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. The last time a foreign vessel attempted to run the blockade was the infamous Mavi Marmara incident of 2010. Israeli special forces boarded the ship as it neared shore, and the exchange that followed resulted in the deaths of ten people on board.

The current mission's organizers say that their plan is to deliver humanitarian aid to residents of Gaza. The territory has not received full-scale food imports since early March because of certain border control factors. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC, the UN's reference system for degree of deprivation) currently classifies all areas of Gaza as a Phase 4 nutrition "emergency," with risk of edging into famine. 

The size of the group's boat suggests that the delivery would be symbolic in nature. The organizers originally intended to use a larger vessel, but it was damaged by two unexplained explosions while anchored off Malta last month. The group alleges that Israeli drones caused the blast damage, but no conclusive evidence has emerged and Israel has not claimed responsibility. 

Thunberg and her co-organizers have framed the voyage in symbolic terms. "We are seeing a systematic starvation of 2 million people. The world cannot be silent bystanders," Thunberg asserted in a statement.