Israel intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on Wednesday evening as it approached Palestinian territory.
“Here you can see the interception to one of our boats,” French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, who is on board one of the boats in the flotilla, said in a video posted on social media.
In a livestream video by the Global Sumud Flotilla’s official channel, crew members on different boats are seen wearing life jackets and sitting in a circle while waiting to be intercepted.
The flotilla, made up of more than 50 boats, set sail in August and has pro-Palestine activists from around the world on board, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and MEPs.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned Tuesday that the flotilla’s actions could throw U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza into jeopardy.
“With the Middle East peace plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, there is finally hope for an agreement to end the war and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population and stabilize the region,” Meloni wrote on social platform X.
“This hope rests on a fragile balance, which many would be happy to ruin,” she added. “I fear that a pretext to do that may be created by the Flotilla’s attempt to force the Israeli naval blockade. This is also why I believe that the Flotilla should stop now and accept one of the several proposals put forward for the safe delivery of aid.”
Among those on board the flotilla are Italian MEPs Benedetta Scuderi (Greens) and Annalisa Corrado (S&D), and French MEPs Mélissa Camara (Greens) and Hassan (The Left).
This story is being updated.
The post Israel intercepts Gaza-bound aid flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg and MEPs appeared first on Politico.
