Israel abducts activists on the Freedom Flotilla
- The Guardian
- Jun 10
- 8 min read
British-flagged yacht operated by pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition was making symbolic attempt to deliver aid
Israel’s military took control of a boat trying to deliver food to Palestinians in Gaza in the early hours of Monday morning, and brought its crew of activists including Greta Thunberg to an Israeli port.
The Madleen was making a symbolic attempt to break to the blockade of Gaza and raise awareness of a looming “starvation crisis”.
It was never likely to get through Israel’s naval blockade of the territory, where UN-backed experts have warned of looming famine, and dozens of people have been killed by Israeli forces trying to reach food distribution centres.
Even attempting to reach Gaza by boat is risky. In May, another boat sailing as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the group that organised the Madleen’s voyage, caught fire off Malta and issued an SOS after what the group said was an attack by Israeli drones. Israel’s military declined to comment.
In 2010, nine activists were killed when Israeli commandos raided a small fleet of ships trying to take supplies including building materials to Gaza. Israel began blockading Gaza in 2007.
Among the last communications from the Madleen before it lost communications was a photo showing the 12-strong crew gathered in a circle, wearing lifejackets, with their hands in the air.
It was posted to social media by a team working with the French MEP Rima Hassan, who was also onboard. A series of pre-recorded messages from crew members were released online.
“If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters,” Thunberg said in a brief message, urging family, friends and supporters to put pressure on the Swedish government to secure her release as soon as possible.
Shortly afterwards, Israel’s foreign ministry said the crew was being taken to Israel and “were expected to return to their home countries”, and followed up by posting an image of Thunberg being offered a sandwich.
Israel has no legal authority to detain the Madleen crew in international waters and confiscate aid onboard, which included food, baby formula and medical supplies, said Huwaida Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser.
“This seizure blatantly violates international law and defies the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalised for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade – their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately.”
The UK-flagged Madleen set sail at a time of mounting international pressure on Israel over the starvation of Palestinians inside Gaza. In an apparent response to the huge amount of publicity generated by the group, Israel’s foreign ministry attacked the crew as “celebrities” on a “selfie yacht”.
Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, made personal attacks on Thunberg and the rest of the crew in a post on X, and said they would be required to watch a film about the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, which launched the war. About 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 250 taken to Gaza, where 55 are still held hostage.
Israel’s attacks on Gaza since then have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women, children and elderly people, and injured more than 125,000, according to health authorities in the territory, whose figures have proved accurate in past conflicts.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to flee their homes and displaced multiple times, and last month food security experts warned the territory was at “critical risk of famine”.
The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories called for the UK to secure the release of the Madleen and its crew and urged others to challenge the blockade.
“Every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity, and humanity to Gaza,” Francesca Albanese posted on X. “Breaking the siege is a legal duty for states, and a moral imperative for all of us.”
On Sunday, at least a dozen Palestinians were killed trying to get food, hit by Israeli gunfire as they headed towards two food distribution centres run by a US and Israeli backed logistics group. Israel said it fired warning shots at people who approached its forces.
© 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)
For the New York Times pro-Israel version of this story, see below with Genocide Watch comments:
Gaza Aid Boat Carrying Greta Thunberg Seized by Israel
The New York Times
June 9, 2025
The civilian ship, called the Madleen, was on a mission organized by a group that opposes the nearly two-decade-old blockade of Gaza.
Greta Thunberg in Catania, Sicily, shortly before sailing aboard the Madleen for Gaza earlier this month. Credit...Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images
By Isabel Kershner and Ephrat Livni
Isabel Kershner reported from Jerusalem and Ephrat Livni from Washington, D.C.
Israel said on Monday it had intercepted a Gaza-bound ship carrying aid and a dozen people, including the activist Greta Thunberg.
The civilian ship, called the Madleen, has been operating under the auspices of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a group that opposes the nearly two-decade-old blockade of Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said its activists had been “kidnapped” by the Israeli military. Israel said it expected to return the ship’s passengers to their home countries.
The Madleen set sail from Sicily on June 1. Israel vowed to prevent the ship from reaching Gaza, saying its military would use “any means necessary” to stop it from breaching an Israeli naval blockade of the enclave.
Surveillance footage recorded early Monday aboard the Madleen shows people in the cockpit wearing orange life vests as the bright lights of another vessel approach. People can then be seen boarding the Madleen.
Israel Intercepts Gaza-Bound Aid Ship
“Guys, oh, my God.” “[word omitted in NY Times article: [Phones] into the water. Throw it over. Calm down, everyone — please, calm down. Yes, everything’s going to be all right. Calm down.” Hey, guys, wait. No.”
[Genocide Watch comment: note that the NY Times omitted the word, “Phones” from the quote, giving the impression that the Israeli commandos were ordering the people into the water. In fact, the commandos did not want the protesters to make phone videos showing Israel’s illegal seizure.]
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said that drones had been flying over the ship before it lost contact with those on board.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry later posted video of what it said were the passengers, who were wearing life jackets and being offered sandwiches and water.
[Genocide Watch comment: This tries to portray the Israeli seizure as humane rather than a violation of international law. Tactic 9 in Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
“The ‘selfie yacht’ of the ‘celebrities’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel,” the ministry wrote on social media on Monday. It accused “Greta and others” of trying “to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity.”
Genocide Watch comment: Cynically portraying the protest as for self-aggrandizement, rather than to protest Israel's blockade and starvation of Gaza, is a classic attack on truth-tellers, Tactic 2 in Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
In a briefing to reporters on Monday, a government spokesman said the passengers on the ship would “be returned home to their countries as soon as possible.”
[Genocide Watch comment: Israeli authorities have no legal authority to seize citizens of other nationalities against their will and transport them anywhere. The protesters broke no laws and are not under any indictments from any country.]
Who and what was on board the Madleen?
The passengers included Ms. Thunberg, who rose to fame with her protests against climate change, and Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament.
Ms. Thunberg has also been an outspoken opponent of Israel’s blockade and its conduct of the war.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” she said last week. “Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the livestreamed genocide.”
Passengers and crew aboard the Madleen prepared to sail to Gaza from Catania earlier this month.Credit...Salvatore Cavalli/Associated Press
Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said on Sunday in a blunt statement: “To Greta the antisemite and her friends, propagandists for Hamas — I say clearly: You would do well to turn back, because you won’t get to Gaza. Israel will act against any attempt to breach the blockade or aid terrorist organizations by sea, air or land.”
[Genocide Watch comment: Dehumanization of protesters and accusations that they are attempting to aid terrorists are classic tactics used by Israel to deny that it is committing genocide in Gaza. Tactics 2 and 7 of Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
The coalition had said in a statement that it was bringing urgently needed goods, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, medical supplies and children’s prosthetics.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the amount of material as “tiny” in its statement, and “less than a single truckload of aid.”
[Genocide Watch comment: Minimizing attempts to bring humanitarian aid to starving people is another tactic of genocide denial. Tactics 1 and 6 of Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
Why is Gaza blockaded?
Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza, with Egypt’s help, after Hamas, the Islamist militant group, took over the strip in 2007. Israeli officials have said the blockade is necessary to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the enclave.
The blockade has remained in place during the 20 months of war that have followed a deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
[Genocide Watch comment: This is a gross misrepresentation of Israel’s 80-day blockade of all food, water, medicine, and fuel to Gaza since March, an act of genocide under Article 2(c) of the Genocide Convention. Portraying the blockade as righteous self-defense employs Tactics 7 and 11 of Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
Israel recently also barred the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory for roughly 80 days, bringing the population to the brink of famine, according to international aid organizations.
It has since supported an aid delivery system that has been marred by violence and shunned by humanitarian groups.
Genocide Watch comment: This is a misrepresentation of Israel's rejection of the UN's established programs to distribute aid directly to starving people, and Israel's substitution of a scheme that requires Palestinians to walk miles to receive food, a scheme in which Israeli troops have already shot and killed over 100 people. It is an example of Tactic 9 in Israel’s Twelve Tactics of Denial by Genocide Watch.]
The voyage of the Madleen was only the latest attempt by activists to breach the Gaza blockade.
A ship called Conscience left Tunisia in late April carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza. It was rocked by explosions off the coast of Malta, where it was scheduled to stop to pick up more people, including Ms. Thunberg. The passengers and crew were not harmed, but the mission was abandoned.
[Genocide Watch comment: Many commentators say the explosions on the Conscience were set off by Israeli agents in complete disregard for the lives of the civilians on board.]
In 2010, nine passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla carrying aid from Turkey to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli commando raid, causing international outrage and damaging Turkish-Israeli relations. A 10th passenger died from his wounds years later.
Israel said at the time that its soldiers, some of whom had rappelled onto the ship from helicopters, came under ambush and were attacked with clubs, metal rods and knives.
[Genocide Watch comment: Portraying Israel’s murderous commando raid on the Mavi Marmara as somehow justified by attacks on the commandos stretches any definition of self-defense beyond credibility.]
Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel, and Jiawei Wang from Seoul.
Isabel Kershner, a Times correspondent in Jerusalem, has been reporting on Israeli and Palestinian affairs since 1990.
Ephrat Livni is a reporter for The Times’s DealBook newsletter, based in Washington.
Article: Copyright 2025 The New York Times Company
Comments by Genocide Watch under Creative Commons Copyright 2025.
