Chaos erupts outside Anthony Albanese’s office as pro-Palestine demonstrators demand action after Greta Thunberg was detained by Israeli forces

Dozens of protesters have descended on Anthony Albanese’s electorate office to demand action after Greta Thunberg’s ‘Freedom Flotilla’ was seized by Israeli defence forces. 

Thunberg, 22, was one of 12 activists aboard the Madleen ‘Freedom Flotilla Coalition’ who were intercepted by the Israel Defence Force on Monday after they tried to break a naval blockade by delivering food aid to Gaza.

In response to their interception, dozens of demonstrators carrying signs demanding an end to the blockade gathered outside the Prime Minister’s office in Marrickville in Sydney’s inner-west on Monday afternoon.

Hannah Thomas, who ran against Albanese unsuccessfully in his seat of Grayndler at last month’s Federal Election, called the interception of the Madleen a ‘war crime’ and demanded the Prime Minister do more to end the conflict. 

‘The interception is an abomination but what’s even worse is the Madleen had to set sail in the first place,’ she told the gathered protesters.

‘Civilians shouldn’t have to sail across the ocean to deliver aid. Ordinary people shouldn’t have to deliver aid to war zones…

‘If we had governments and leaders with even a flicker of humanity this wouldn’t have to happen. If people like Anthony Albanese – people with the power to stop this genocide – gave a s*** about Palestinian lives or International law then were wouldn’t be living in this dystopian nightmare.’

Many of the protesters were carrying Palestine flags, while one woman brandished a headless baby doll covered in bloodstains. 

Hannah Thomas, who ran against Albanese unsuccessfully in his seat of Grayndler at last month’s Federal Election , called the interception of the Madleen a ‘war crime ‘ and demanded the Prime Minister do more to end the conflict

Many of the protesters were carrying Palestine flags, while one woman brandished a headless baby doll covered in bloodstains (pictured)

Others held homemade signs calling for a boycott of Israel and accusing the country of using starvation as a weapon of war.

Thunberg and the other activists are being taken to the port of Ashdod where they will be made to watch a 45-minute film of the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023 before being deported. 

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) mocked the activists and their ‘selfie yacht’, claiming ‘there are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies’

‘The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the “celebrities” will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,’ the MFA wrote on X. 

In a video posted to her Instagram page earlier on Sunday, Thunberg, 22, said: ‘If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel.

‘I urge all my friends, family and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible,’ she added in the clip recorded on board the Madleen ship.

Israel has been blockading the Mediterranean Sea beside Gaza to prevent Hamas from importing arms.

In a press release following the attack, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) wrote: ‘The FFC confirms that its civilian ship, Madleen, carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, has been attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military at 3:02 am CET in international waters.

‘The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – confiscated’.