Greta Thunberg and hundreds of other anti-Israel activists set sail Sunday in what organizers call the largest protest flotilla to date, aiming to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and open a maritime “humanitarian corridor.”

The Swedish climate activist — who has increasingly embraced anti-Israel causes since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel — is joined by far-left Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua and activists from 44 countries. Vessels departed from Barcelona, Sicily, Greece, and Tunisia under the banner of the Global Sumud Flotilla, promoted by the Barcelona Radical Book Fair as “history’s largest international civil humanitarian movement” against Israel.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a restricted meeting Sunday at his official residence to weigh Israel’s operational strategy. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and senior security officials participated, with Ben-Gvir pushing for far harsher measures against the more than 200 activists involved.

According to Yisrael Hayom, Ben-Gvir’s proposed deterrence strategy was drawn up in an August 28 meeting with top police and Prison Service officials. The measures would see flotilla participants detained under what the minister described as “terrorist-level conditions” at Ktzi’ot and Damon prisons — stripped of television or radio access, denied enhanced meals, and held for weeks rather than overnight.

Israel would also seize the vessels and convert them into police assets for maritime operations, a step sources said had already cleared judicial review.

“Previous gentle handling failed,” sources close to Ben-Gvir told Yisrael Hayom. “After several weeks at Ktzi’ot and Damon, they’ll regret ever arriving. We must eliminate their appetite for another attempt.”

The flotilla marks Thunberg’s second attempt to break the blockade. In June, she was detained aboard the Madleen and deported. Of the 12 passengers, four, including Thunberg, accepted voluntary deportation. All were banned from Israel for 100 years.

Upon landing in Paris, Thunberg denounced Israel, claiming she had been “kidnapped” by the Navy.

The IDF says the naval blockade is a critical security measure against Hamas. On August 11, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit told JNS the military “enforces the security naval blockade on the Gaza Strip and is prepared for a wide range of scenarios, which it will act upon in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”

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