Lieutenant Dean Elsdunne, the Israel Police spokesperson to international media, posted a video to social media in which he is seen boarding one of the larger vessels which took part in the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza, and which was intercepted by Israeli troops during Yom Kippur.
In the video, Elsdunne is seen in an empty room inside the vessel and shows that there was no humanitarian aid aboard the vessel, despite claims by activists who took part that their aim was to bring aid to Gaza.
“I'm inside one of the vessels, one of the largest vessels to come in this Yom Kippur flotilla. and while we're processing this boat, there's one thing missing, guys: All this aid that they were supposed to bring into Gaza,” he says.
“When we and multiple other countries offered them to take this aid and bring it to the Gazans, we could facilitate its safe arrival, they flat out rejected it. And now we know why, because it was never about bringing aid to Gazans, but it was all about the headlines and the social media followings,” added Elsdunne.
On Friday morning, Shayetet 13 naval commandos took control of the last remaining vessel of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Among the participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla was environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who was previously deported by Israel in June after taking part in another flotilla, the Madleen.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)