Gaza aid ship in the Mediterranean Israel stops Thunberg and the "Madleen"

Status: 09.06.2025 13:37

After days of sailing with aid supplies for the Gaza Strip, the sailing ship"Madleen" was stopped shortly before reaching its destination. The ship was diverted to the Israeli coast, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced.

The aid ship"Madleen" was diverted to Israel before arriving in the Gaza Strip. The ship is now anchored in Israel, the Foreign Ministry announced online. The crew members are safe and have been provided with food and water.

The activists on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and German Yasemin Acar, are expected to return home. They attempted to stage a media provocation, the statement said. Their cargo was so small that it didn't even correspond to a truckload of aid."There are ways to get aid to the Gaza Strip—without Instagram selfies."

Criticism from Turkey and Iran

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the organization responsible for the Madleen's voyage, stated that the army stopped the sailing ship, boarded it, and kidnapped its crew. Contact with the crew was lost.

The coalition called Israel's action a"flagrant violation of international law." According to the coalition, the ship was stopped in international waters 200 kilometers from the coast of the Gaza Strip. The coalition emphasized that Israel must ensure unhindered humanitarian access to the coastal strip. The Israeli Foreign Ministry, however, stated that the zone off the Gaza Strip is closed to unauthorized vessels as part of the naval blockade in place since 2007.

The organization announced further actions:"We will sail again. We will not be deterred. We will set sail again. We will not stop until the blockade ends and Palestine is free."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry called it a "violation of international law." The intervention threatened maritime security and demonstrated "once again that Israel is acting as a terrorist state."

Day-long journey through the Mediterranean

The sailing ship set off from Sicily a week ago toward the Gaza Strip. The activists said they wanted to bring relief supplies such as baby food and medical supplies to the Gaza Strip, thus drawing international attention to the humanitarian situation there. After their days-long journey through the eastern Mediterranean, they were scheduled to arrive on the Gaza coast on Monday morning.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz declared that he had ordered the army to prevent the ship's arrival on the coast of the Gaza Strip."The State of Israel will not allow anyone to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip," the minister said in a statement. He had ordered the ship's arrival to be prevented.

Katz described the people on board as"left-wing extremist activists." Addressing them, he said,"You should turn back, because you won't reach Gaza."

The naval blockade was introduced in 2007 after Hamas seized power. Its purpose, Katz said, was to prevent arms deliveries to the terrorist militia. Israel had previously denied activists permission to dock their ships on the coast of the isolated Gaza Strip.

First attempt at the beginning of May

Thunberg had planned to travel to the Gaza Strip on a Freedom Flotilla ship in early May. However, the ship was damaged en route. Activists speculated that Israel had attacked it with a drone.

During the Gaza War, which was triggered by the Hamas terrorist attack in October 2023, Thunberg publicly expressed solidarity with the Palestinians on several occasions. Critics accuse her of taking a one-sided pro-Palestinian stance, and there have also been accusations of anti-Semitism.

According to media reports, other members of the"Madleen" crew have expressed sympathy for Hamas and Hezbollah in the past.