On June 8 (Sunday) local time, Israel made a tough statement, and would do its best to prevent aid ship carrying Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and other humanitarians from arriving in the Gaza Strip.

The ship, called the Madleen, is operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, attempting to break through Israel's maritime blockade in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the local area, according to the Associated Press.

Israel Katz made it clear that the blockade was to prevent Hamas from obtaining weapons, and any act of breaking through the blockade would not be allowed.

He spoke sternly in his statement: "For Greta and her Hamas propaganda partners, I want to tell you clearly: Turn around, you can't get to Gaza."

Last month, another ship of the Free Fleet Alliance was attacked by two drones in international waters near Malta, causing severe damage to the bow. The Free Fleet blamed Israel, but the latter did not comment on the incident.

1. The mission of assisting the fleet

There are 12 activists on the Madeline, including Greta Tumbery and other international humanitarian workers. They set out from Sicily, Italy last weekend and planned to attract international attention from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza through this voyage, while delivering supplies to the area destroyed by the war.

There are also Rima Hassan, a member of the French European Parliament and a Palestinian descent, on board. She has been banned from entering Israel due to her long-standing opposition to Israeli policies.

2. Israel and Gaza

Since Hamas defeated Fatah and took control of Gaza in 2007, Israel and Egypt have implemented Closing to varying degrees. Critics point out that this prolonged lockdown is essentially a collective punishment for two million Gaza people.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a raid, killing about 1,200 Israelis, most of them civilians and hijacking 251 hostages. Up to now, more than half of the hostages have been released through ceasefire agreements or other means, and 55 people are still detained, most of them are believed to have no hope of survival.

In the early days of the war, Israel blocked all aid in the Gaza Strip, but later eased under pressure from the United States.

In early March this year, Israel ended its ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Island once again blocked all imports, including food, fuel and medicines.

After, under pressure from the international community, Israel began to allow some basic aid to enter Gaza last month.

According to Gaza's health department, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the war, most of which are women and children. Meanwhile, 90% of Gaza’s residents are homeless, and the entire region is almost entirely dependent on international aid to survive.