Israel was fairly soft on Greta Thunberg following her first failed Gaza ‘aid mission.’ The Swedish eco-zealot-cum-Gaza activist-cum-“human trafficker” accepted deportation after reportedly refusing to watch a film documenting the atrocities of Hamas’ October 7th terror attack, while the tiny amount of aid she transported—just about enough for “maybe a dozen people,” according to some commentators—was transferred to Gaza through proper humanitarian channels.
But Benjamin Netanyahu’s team appears now to have run out of patience and is preparing a much tougher response to Thunberg’s latest endeavour to deter any future so-called “Palestine rescue missions.” Indeed, the activist has already threatened to “go back” if her expedition is again cut short by Israeli forces.
After Greta and co left Spain on Sunday on the largest flotilla yet bound for Gaza, Israeli paper Israel Hayomreported that Netanyahu’s ministers are drawing up plans to put the activist in detention “under terrorist conditions” and to convert her ships into a police fleet.
People close to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told the paper:
Following several weeks at Ktzi’ot and Damon [detention centres for females], they’ll be sorry about the time they arrived here. We must eliminate their appetite for another attempt.
Officials have also said that they are “prepared for a wide range of scenarios.”
Of course, such action relies on Thunberg getting to—or, at the very least, close to—Gaza in the first place. But already on Monday, the flotilla was forced to return to the Barcelona port it had just recently departed from due to a storm affecting the Catalan coast.
Why the activists hadn’t properly checked fairly local weather conditions so early on in the journey is unclear.
Spanish daily El Mundoreports that the group will attempt to restart its journey later on Monday.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
