A humanitarian ship to Gaza with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Tunberg, will continue its journey "until the last minute," activists said after Israel ordered its military to block the ship.

"We will remain mobilised until the last minute - until Israel cuts the internet and the networks," Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, told AFP from the boat, called the Madleen.

"The Madeleine, part of the Freedom Flotilla coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of humanitarian supplies to "break the Israeli blockade of Gaza", where the war between Israel and Hamas has entered its 21st month.

"We have twelve civilians on board. We are not armed. We only have humanitarian aid," Hassan added.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prevent the boat from reaching Palestinian territory.

"I say clearly: go back, because you will not reach Gaza," Katz said.

The coalition responded in a statement in X, stressing that it expects "interception and attack from Israel at any moment" and calling on the governments of the people on board to protect them.

On board the ship were citizens of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands.

"We are not afraid of them," said German human rights activist Yasemin Akar, who is also on board.

"The message they are sending us - that we can't get close - doesn't make us back down," she added.

French MEP Hassan expressed concern at the lack of official reaction from the countries whose nationals were part of the crew.

"Not a single country has responded. The message being sent is that Israel is being allowed to act with impunity without guaranteeing our protection," she stressed.

On June 7, French Minister of Foreign Trade and French Citizens Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin said France was obliged to provide "consular protection" for its citizens on board the Madeleine.

"The six French nationals on this boat are entitled to consular protection," he told the state television channel. | BGNES