A boat carrying a crew of activists including 22-year-old Greta Thunberg was seized by Israel’s military on Monday as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza.
The boat, called Madleen, was attempting to bring a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza as Israel faces growing international pressure over the starvation of Palestinians.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group who organised the Madleen, said the boat was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Egypt in the early hours of Monday. Lawyers for the crew of have accused Israel of breaching international law.
The boat later arrived in the port of Ashdod, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on X.
The activists have been detained and are expected to be deported from Israel. The crew on the boat included citizens from Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Turkey, including a number of well-known activists and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera.
Footage released online showed the activists wearing life jackets as Israeli forces boarded the boat. The activists were ordered to throw their phones overboard.
After its interception, The Freedom Flotilla Coalition posted pre-recorded videos on the activists, including Thunberg. They said: “if you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped” by the Israeli military or forces supporting Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz had revealed authorities would force the members of the Madleen crew to watch a video of Hamas’s deadly attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023. On X, Israel’s Foreign Ministry called the boat “selfie yacht” and posted an image of Thunberg.
Since it set sail from Italy about a week ago, the boat has drawn international media attention to the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. In violation of international law, more than 2 million Palestinians are currently being starved in Gaza.
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has called on the UK to secure the release of the Madleen and its crew. She also urged others to continue to challenge the blockade.
“Every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity, and humanity to Gaza,” Albanese posted on X. “Breaking the siege is a legal duty for states, and a moral imperative for all of us.”
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a swift return of six French activists on board the Madleen. Sweden said it was in contact with Israeli authorities and Turkey condemned the interception as a “heinous attack” in international waters and labelled it a “clear violation of international law”.
Amnesty International’s Secretary-General Agnes Callamard also said Israel’s interception of Madleen violates international law.
“#Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seeking to bring humanitarian aid in an attempt to breach Israel’s illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip. It was carrying unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission,” Callamard wrote on X.
“Israel interception of Madleen violates international law. As the occupying power (as recognised by the ICJ), Israel has a legal obligation to ensure civilians in Gaza have sufficient food and medicine. They should have let Madleen deliver its humanitarian supplies to Gaza.”