JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday ordered the military to stop a humanitarian ship carrying activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, breaking the blockade of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
"I have instructed the military to prevent the Madleen flotilla from reaching Gaza," Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement from his office.
The Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Italy on June 1 with the aim of delivering aid and challenging the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for years even before the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023.
Organisers said on Saturday the vessel had entered Egyptian waters and was nearing Gaza, where the war has entered its 21st month.
Aboard the boat are nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Türkiye, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.
One of them, European Parliament member Rima Hassan, has said that more than 200 European lawmakers signed an open letter to Israel calling for the Madleen to be allowed to reach Gaza and for the "immediate entry of its humanitarian cargo".
Katz said that "Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which is aimed at preventing weapons from reaching Hamas."
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack.
In Gaza, the civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 10 people on Sunday.
"Five martyrs and dozens of wounded were taken to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis after the (Israeli) occupation forces opened fire on civilians at around 6:00 am," said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the agency.
The civilians had been heading to an aid distribution centre west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, witnesses and Bassal said, near a site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-backed group that has come under criticism from the United Nations and humanitarian agencies.
The United Nations refuses to work with the GHF, citing concerns over its practices and neutrality.
"Around 4:30 am, people started gathering in the Al Alam area of Rafah. After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved towards the site and the army opened fire," Abdullah Nour al Din said.
The GHF said in a statement there had been no incidents or injuries "at any of our three sites" on Sunday.
It said it had distributed more than a million meals, including more than 600,000 through a trial of "direct to community distribution" via "community leaders".
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