IDF takes 'Madleen' flotilla to Port of Ashdod, flotilla's passengers to return to home countries

The IDF had boarded the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Madleen, the ship's operators said on Telegram early Monday morning at around 3 a.m., with everyone on board reportedly arrested.

The IDF had previously estimated that the flotilla would arrive in Israeli territory an hour earlier.

The Madleen's official tracker showed the ship edging closer to the Gaza coastline. The IDF's naval unit, Shayetet 13, has already begun training for the ship’s boarding.

At 1:17 a.m., the flotilla's Telegram account reported that alarms sounded on the ship, and life jackets were being prepared. The activists on board include Greta Thunberg, European lawmaker Rima Hassan, and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham. 

One of the flotilla participants, Yasmine Najer, uploaded a video to her Instagram and explained why the alarm in the flotilla was activated: "We are very close to Gaza. The reason we activated the alarm is that four ships surrounded us and two approached to a distance of about 200 meters - this has not happened before. So that is why we sounded the alarm.

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir on Sunday denied a Channel 14 report that claimed the military advocate-general bears responsibility for the deaths of the four soldiers on Friday. 

He said he condemns the repeated, unfounded, and baseless attacks regarding the activities of the officials. 

There was no directive from the military advocate-general to refrain from striking the building that collapsed and caused the deaths of four soldiers in Khan Yunis.

The claims made in this context are false, malicious, and entirely without basis, Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said. 

The safety of IDF soldiers is a central consideration in all operations carried out in the Gaza Strip, and the forces on the ground have operational freedom to remove threats.

If former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen runs in the next elections, his hypothetical party would not secure enough mandates to pass the electoral threshold, according to a new poll by Lazar Research that was conducted for Walla.

The survey was conducted on Sunday with a representative sample of 500 Israeli adults, including both Jewish and Arab respondents.

The poll found that Cohen's party would secure just four mandates. Three of those mandates would come from the Change Bloc, comprised of Naftali Bennett's New Right party, Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid, and Avigdor Liberman's Yisrael Beytenu. Cohen would also receive just one from Likud.

Even with his entry, the Change Bloc would retain a 62-seat parliamentary majority, excluding the Arab parties.

The poll found that Cohen, frequently mentioned as a potential prime ministerial candidate from the right wing, would only narrowly pass the electoral threshold.

A vessel that was approaching Freedom Flotilla Coalition's Gaza-bound charity ship the Madleen has left, the coalition said early on Monday, after an alarm was sounded on the ship warning of a possible interception.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said he told the military to stop the boat carrying activists, including Sweden's Greta Thunberg, and a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula, to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade.

The coalition posted on its Telegram account a voice memo of Thiago Avila, one of the activists onboard, saying "we have been surrounded by many lights all at once; they were circling our boat but in the end they kept going their own way."

A group of ships reportedly intercepted the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said on Twitter. 

Albanese said that she could hear the activists speaking with what she believed were IDF soldiers during the flotilla's online livestream. 

The IDF has not commented on any operations at this time. 

The Gaza Freedom Flotilla is getting closer to the coast of the Gaza Strip, the organization's official tracker showed on Sunday evening. 

The Madleen is expected to land in Gaza within 24, The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday. 

Israel will take control of the Gaza flotilla, bring the pro-Palestinian activists into Israeli territory, and send them back abroad within a few hours, an Israeli official said Sunday.

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir denied a Channel 14 report that claimed the military advocate-general bears responsibility for the deaths of the four soldiers on Friday. 

He said he condemns the repeated, unfounded, and baseless attacks regarding the activities of the officials. 

Israel’s political echelon is set to hold a situational assessment on Monday, during which they will decide how many new emergency orders (Tzav 8 orders) must be issued.

The order came after recent criticism from reservists who complained of uncertainty and the nature of the missions assigned to them as part of the Gideon’s Chariots operation in the Gaza Strip.

Greta Thunberg's freedom flotilla is expected to reach Gaza waters during the night, Walla reported Sunday.
The IDF has begun preparing for a “quiet takeover” of the ship to prevent it from reaching the shore.