Israeli military seizes Gaza aid boat with Thunberg on board

A boat seized by Israel's military as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza was towed into an Israeli port after sunset yesterday, with the crew of activists including Greta Thunberg expected to be held there ahead of deportation hearings.

- Emma Graham-Harrison

The Madleen was attempting to bring a symbolic shipment of aid to Gaza, which faces a looming famine after more than 11 weeks of total siege and ongoing severe restrictions on food entering the territory.

In recent days Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and injured hundreds more as they tried to reach a handful of sites where a US and Israeli-backed logistics organization is handing out limited supplies.

Thunberg and the other 11 members of the Madleen crew, including the French MEP Rima Hassan and the Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad, have been out of contact since Israeli forces took control of the boat in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The legal adviser to the Israeli navy told the legal rights group Adalah, which is representing the detainees, that "to the best of our knowledge, none of them are injured or currently require medical treatment".

In Ashdod they were expected to be handed into police custody and "undergo a hearing prior to the issuance of deportation orders", Adalah quoted him as saying.

Although there was little expectation that Israeli authorities would let the small yacht get close to Gaza, even attempting to reach it by boat is risky.

In May, a boat sailing as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organized the Madleen's voyage, caught fire off Malta and issued an SOS after what the group said was an attack by Israeli drones. Israel's military declined to comment.