Israel has intercepted an aid ship that was heading towards Gaza and carried prominent activists like Greta Thunberg.

Israeli authorities detained those who were present on the ship and took them to Israel.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), an organisation that has campaigned against Israel's blockade of Gaza, earlier said it launched the civilian ship Madleen that was carrying humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders.

Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan and climate justice activist Greta Thunberg were among the prominent people who were present on the ship.

After the ship was intercepted by Israel, Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organizer, said in a statement: "Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen."

“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade—their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately," Arraf said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said the ship was safely making its way to the shores of Israel.

"The passengers are expected to return to their home countries," the statement issued by the Ministry of X said.

Speaking on Greta's participation, the Ministry said, "While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza."

Special video on Hamas to be screened for activists

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz said on X that he instructed officials to show the passengers of the ship a video showcasing the atrocities committed by Hamas during the October 7, 2023 attack.

"I instructed the IDF to show the passengers of the flotilla the video of the horrors of the October 7 massacre when they arrive at the port of Ashdod," Katz wrote on X.

He further said: "It is appropriate that the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas supporters see exactly who the Hamas terrorist organization is that they came to support and for which they work and what atrocities they committed against women, the elderly and children and against whom Israel is fighting to protect."

Palestinians vulnerable to starvation, says UN

The lack of food entering Gaza caused by ongoing Israeli aid restrictions is leaving increasing numbers of Palestinians “vulnerable to starvation”, with daily energy intake now well below what a human body needs to survive, the UN warned last week.

Latest data simulations from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) point to the average Gazan eating just 1,400 calories per day – “or 67 per cent of what a human body needs to survive" (2,300 calories) as of May.

Between October 2023 and the end of December 2024, average intake was 1,510 calories per day, or 72 per cent of the minimum recommended amount.

“The findings reveal systemic and escalating violations of both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, particularly concerning the right to adequate food, the prohibition of starvation as a method of warfare, and the protection of civilians in armed conflict,” FAO insisted.

Even based on its most optimistic food availability scenario, the UN agency estimated that energy intake was just 1,470 calories per person per day on 11 May, during the complete aid blockade imposed by Israel, beginning 2 March.

Gaza’s population today is approximately 2.1 million, down from 2.23 million in October 2023 before the war began following Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel.

Citing the Palestinian authorities, FAO said that as of 30 April, 52,400 Palestinians had been reported killed, while another 11,000 were feared missing, presumably under the rubble.

While more than 60,000 children have been born in the Gaza Strip during the conflict, “an unknown number of Palestinians have died of natural causes or indirectly from the conflict, due to hunger, untreated diseases or injuries since October 2023”, FAO said.

The UN agency also referred to a June 2024 article by the authoritative medical journal The Lancet suggesting that up to 186,000 people would likely die from indirect causes because of the conflict, at a “conservative” rate of four indirect deaths for every direct death.

According to FAO’s simulation, 2,297 tonnes - equivalent to 120 trucks - per day are required to deliver food baskets providing 2,100 calories per person per day to the entire population of the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, UN teams requested access for 130 truckloads of aid via Kerem Shalom, but only 50 carrying flour were approved to enter from Israel.