JERUSALEM/ASHDOD (Reuters) – Israeli naval forces boarded and seized a charity vessel carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, which had tried to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip on Monday.

The British-flagged yacht, Madleen, which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had aimed to deliver a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza later on Monday and raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis there.

“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by Israeli occupational forces or forces that support Israel,” Thunberg, 22, said in a video released by the FCC, filmed before the vessel was captured.

“I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that the vessel was under Israeli control. Israel has called Thunberg an “antisemite” and dismissed the aid ship as a stunt.

“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries,” the ministry wrote on X. All passengers were safe and unharmed, it later added: “They were provided with sandwiches and water. The show is over.”

Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who was also on board, posted on X that the crew had been “arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2 a.m.”

A photograph showed the crew seated on the boat, all wearing life jackets, with their hands in the air.

Israel’s foreign ministry later distributed a photo showing Thunberg in a green hat and orange life vest, smiling while a soldier held out a sandwich.

Crew Arrested

The yacht is carrying a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula. The Foreign Ministry said it would be taken to Gaza.

“The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the ‘celebrities’ will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it wrote.

The Swedish foreign ministry said it was in contact with Israeli authorities.

“Should the need for consular support arise, the Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess how we can best help the Swedish citizen/Greta Thunberg resolve her situation,” a Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a written statement to Reuters.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said the president has asked Israeli authorities to release the French nationals on board as soon as possible.

The French and Spanish foreign ministries said they had requested consular protection for their citizens aboard.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military on Sunday to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza, calling the mission a propaganda effort in support of Hamas.

Katz said he had instructed that upon the boat’s arrival at Ashdod port, the activists will be shown videos of atrocities committed during the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Gaza war.

Hamas condemned the seizure of the boat as “state terrorism” and said it salutes its activists.

Israel has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the militant group.

The blockade has remained in place through conflicts including the war which began when Hamas-led militants rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas has since killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in Hamas-run Gaza, and destroyed most of the homes of its 2.3 million residents.

At the start of March this year, Israel also sealed off Gaza by land, letting no supplies in for three months, arguing that Hamas was diverting aid. Over the past two weeks it has let in some food to be distributed by an Israeli-backed group. Scores of hungry Palestinians have been killed trying to reach it.

The United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has supported the FFC operation and on Sunday, urged other boats to challenge the Gaza blockade.

“Madleen’s journey may have ended, but the mission isn’t over. Every Mediterranean port must send boats with aid & solidarity to Gaza,” she wrote on X.

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(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Rami Amichay in Ashdod, Yomna Ehab and Enas Alashray in Cairo; John Irish in Paris; Editing by Richard Chang, Lincoln Feast, Sharon Singleton, Peter Graff)