The Japan Times - Israel diverts Gaza-bound aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg

The Madleen departed from Italy on June 1 aiming to bring awareness to food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the "hungriest place on Earth". After 21 months of war, the UN has warned the territory's entire population is at risk of famine.

AFP lost contact with the Madleen early Monday morning.

At around 3:02 am CET (0102 GMT), Israeli forces "forcibly intercepted" the vessel in international waters as it was approaching Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement.

"If you see this video we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters," Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video shared by the coalition.

The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the diversion, saying in a statement the boat was being taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Israeli government had vowed to prevent the "unauthorised" ship from breaching the naval blockade of Gaza, urging it to turn back.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Israel Katz said the blockade, in place since years before the Israel-Hamas war, was needed to prevent Palestinian militants from importing weapons.

After diverting the boat, Israel's foreign ministry posted a picture of the activists all in orange life jackets being offered water and sandwiches.

"All the passengers of the 'selfie yacht' are safe and unharmed," the ministry wrote on social media, adding that it expected the activists to return to their home countries.

"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 added.

Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza to alleviate widespread shortages of food and basic supplies.

It recently allowed humanitarian deliveries to resume after barring them for more than two months and began working with the newly formed, US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

But humanitarian agencies have criticised the GHF and the United Nations refuses to work with it, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.

Dozens of people have been killed near GHF distribution points since late May, according to Gaza's civil defence agency.

It said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday, including five civilians hit by gunfire near an aid distribution centre.

- 'Risked their lives' for food -

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that "people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah" in the early morning.

"After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire," he said.

The Israeli military said it fired on people who "continued advancing in a way that endangered the soldiers" despite warnings.

The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents "at any of our three sites" on Sunday.

Outside Nasser Hospital, where the emergency workers brought the casualties, AFPTV footage showed mourners crying over blood-stained body bags.

"I can't see you like this," said Lin al-Daghma by her father's body.

She spoke of the struggle to access food aid after the two-months Israeli blockade, despite the recent easing.

At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan told AFP she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site "because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting. I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families".

- Sinwar -

Also on Sunday, the Israeli military said it had located and identified the body of Mohammed Sinwar, presumed Hamas leader in Gaza, in an "underground tunnel route beneath the European Hospital in Khan Yunis", in southern Gaza.

The military, which until Sunday had not confirmed his death, said Israeli forces killed Sinwar on May 13.

Sinwar was the younger brother of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, accused by Israel of masterminding the 2023 attack that triggered the war.

The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 54,880 people, the majority civilians, have been killed in the territory since the start of the war. The UN considers these figures reliable.

After the deaths of several Hamas leaders, Mohammed Sinwar was thought to be at the heart of decisions on indirect negotiations with Israel.

The military said that alongside Sinwar's body, forces had found "additional intelligence" at the Khan Yunis site "underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room".

Experts said he likely took over as the head of Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, after its leader Mohammed Deif was killed by Israel.

The Palestinian group has remained tight-lipped over the names of its top ranks.

S.Suzuki--JT