The Israeli army has intercepted the Madleen, a humanitarian sailing ship carrying aid supplies for Gaza and with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg on board, Israel confirmed. The"selfie yacht" (sic) with "celebrities" is "safely en route to the Israeli coast", it said. The 12 passengers will be sent home.

The ship Madleen is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and left Catania, Sicily last week with the aim of delivering a ton of humanitarian aid - a symbolic amount - to Gaza. The trip was intended as a protest against Israeli military operations and the dire humanitarian situation in the coastal strip.

In a press release, FFC said the Madleen was"attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military in international waters." The vessel was surrounded and all communications on board were blocked.

“The vessel was unlawfully boarded, the unarmed civilian crew was abducted and the life-saving cargo – including baby formula, food and medical supplies – was seized,” FFC said.

We will set sail again and will not stop until the siege ends and Palestine is free

Freedom Flotilla Coalition

In a post shared by the FFC on social media, the 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg, can be seen at the moment the ship is intercepted. The crew is wearing life jackets. They hold their hands in the air and throw their phones into the water. The Israeli military can also be seen boarding the ship.

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"The show is over"

Israel confirms through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the army stopped and boarded the ship. The Madleen was then forced to sail on to Israel. In the meantime, the ministry shows images on social media of the crew being given sandwiches and water."The show is over", it sounds telling.

Israel says the activists will be sent to their home countries. According to FFC, Israel has no legal authority to detain the activists."They cannot be criminalized for providing assistance or challenging an illegal blockade. (...) We will not be deterred. We will sail again and we will not stop until the siege ends and Palestine is free."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry says the ship was in international waters during the boarding. It also says Israel's intervention"is a clear violation of international law. Israel has once again shown that it is acting as a terrorist state."

What is the Freedom Flotilla Coalition?

It is an organization founded in 2010 with the aim of taking a stand against the "illegal blockade of Gaza", according to the FFC website.

The reason was the Mavi Marmara raid, in which ten Turkish activists were killed by Israeli troops when they tried to stop a convoy of six ships with aid supplies that were on their way to Gaza on May 31, 2010.

As the name suggests, it is a coalition or partnership of various international organizations from Turkey, Italy, Canada and the US, among others. 

The Madleen with Thunberg on board is not the first action of FFC this year. At the end of April, the organization also sent the ship Conscience from Malta to Gaza. In early May, FFC reported that the ship had been attacked by drones. 

FFC initially did not immediately identify who might be responsible for the attack, but later wrote that"Israeli representatives must be held accountable for violations of international law, including the continued blockade and bombardment of our civilian ship in international waters."

Yesterday, the Israeli Defense Minister said he had ordered the army to stop the Madleen, calling the mission a propaganda tool to show support for Hamas.

Katz added that upon arrival at the port of Ashdod, the crew will be shown videos of"the atrocities that occurred on October 7, 2023."

Organization posts videos of volunteers

This morning FFC has published several videos on YouTube of the various volunteers, including one with Thunberg. They all follow roughly the same script.

This is what she says:"My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, it means that we have been intercepted and abducted in international waters by the Israeli occupation forces, or forces that support Israel. I call on all my friends and family members to put pressure on the Swedish government to free me and the others as soon as possible."

French President Emmanuel Macron "has asked that the six French nationals on board a ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid that was intercepted be allowed to return to France as soon as possible," the Elysée reported. Six French nationals are on board the Madleen, including Rimma Hassan, a French politician of Palestinian origin.

"Provocation"

The aid on board the Madleen will be brought to Gaza "through genuine humanitarian channels", according to Israel."While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation, with the sole aim of publicity (...) more than 1,200 trucks with aid have entered Gaza from Israel in the past 2 weeks (...)", the ministry said.

These figures could not be independently verified. In addition, there is fierce criticism of the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip after Israel cut it off for 11 weeks. The emergency aid is provided by the controversial American-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Several deadly incidents have occurred during the distribution of these goods. For example, troops have fired on Gazans at the distribution points. The United Nations called the killings"the result of a series of deliberate choices" by Israel.