“World’s silence is dangerous”: Greta Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor sail to Gaza on humanitarian mission

Greta Thunberg and other activists sail toward Gaza aboard Freedom Flotilla to deliver aid and protest "genocide," facing potential Israeli Navy interception.

Greta Thunberg, now 22, along with Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan (who has been banned from entering Israel due to her stance on Gaza operations), have set sail toward Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and draw international attention to the crisis, declaring “stop the genocide.”

Aboard the Madleen, a blue sailboat from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition that departed from the port of Catania several days ago, the activists expect to take about a week to reach Gaza—unless they are intercepted along the route by Israeli Navy vessels. This marks their second attempt; the first, in May, failed due to a drone attack near Malta.

“We must keep trying”

“We must keep trying,” Greta Thunberg said at a press conference. “Because the moment we stop trying, we lose our humanity. This journey is dangerous, yes, but not as dangerous as the world’s silence in the face of a genocide broadcast live.”

Meanwhile, Netanyahu eased the blockade in mid-May, allowing extremely limited aid entry, but according to UN agencies and major NGOs, conditions for effective distribution remain prohibitive due to Israeli restrictions, internal chaos, and looting.

“The hungriest place on earth”

That’s exactly how Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), recently described the Gaza Strip—the only place on the planet where the entire population faces famine risk and where humanitarian aid delivery operations are blocked by severe limitations imposed by Israel.

Deliveries have been put in an “operational straitjacket” that makes them the most obstructed humanitarian operations “not only in today’s world, but in recent history.” It’s hardly surprising that just days ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that there is “no hunger” in Gaza, claiming instead that Palestinians “are getting fat.”

“Food is being delivered drop by drop to an area on the brink of catastrophic hunger,” Laerke continued. “Many trucks have been stormed by desperate people along the route, fighting to feed their families. It’s a survival reaction from desperate people. I don’t blame them for a second for taking aid that is essentially already theirs, but is not being distributed the way we would have wanted.”