Madleen, a humanitarian aid vessel attempting to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, has entered Egyptian waters en route to the besieged Palestinian territory, defying Israeli threats to stop it from reaching Gaza shores.
The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza said on Sunday that the aid flotilla had passed through Alexandria and was expected to reach the city of Mansoura within hours, before heading toward the Gaza Strip.
“The coming hours will be most critical,” it said.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among 12 international campaigners aboard the Madleen. “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament of Palestinian descent, are also onboard the vessel.
Earlier in the day, organizers reported attempts by Israel to jam the vessel’s signal and obscure its location.
“It seems Israel is jamming our colleagues’ location and signal on the Madleen,” the committee said.
The committee warned that the Israeli regime “is preparing to commit a war crime in the middle of international waters.”
Israel has threatened to prevent the vessel from reaching the besieged coastal enclave.
The Israeli minister of military affairs, Israel Katz, threatened to block the aid ship from reaching Gaza, accusing Thunberg and fellow activists of being “Hamas propagandists.”
“To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propagandists — I will say this clearly: You should turn back, because you will not make it to Gaza,” Katz said on Sunday.
Katz said that he ordered the Israeli army “to act against the flotilla.”
The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, set sail from Sicily last week carrying urgent humanitarian supplies for Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, desalination kits, medical aid, and children’s prosthetics.
Israeli drones hit a vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience, in international waters off the coast of Malta on May 2.
The group condemned the attack at the time, calling it a clear “violation of international law.”
UN agencies and major aid groups have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. They say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.
