The Israeli commandos have intercepted the humanitarian ship carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg, among others, to the Gaza Strip. Rima Hassan, Member of the European Parliament (MEP), also among activists on board the British-flagged yacht Madleen– which is operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC)–posted a photo showing people in life jackets sitting with their hands up.
The last image of the crew. pic.twitter.com/PkYQSLa3Ri
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 9, 2025
In a series of posts on X, Hassan said the crew of the Freedom Flotilla was arrested by the Israeli army in international waters around 2 am.
English below
🔴 L’équipage de la Freedom Flotilla a été arrêté par l’armée israélienne en eaux internationales autour de deux heures du matin.
Des actions sont à venir, restez connectés.
🔴 The crew of the Freedom Flotilla was arrested by the Israeli army in international… pic.twitter.com/GSA2LFHjvb
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 9, 2025
The FFC, a coalition of humanitarian groups behind the campaign, said on the Telegram app that the “connection has been lost” on the Madleen, adding that the passengers had been “kidnapped” by Israeli forces.
The FFC said the ship, which left from Sicily on Friday, aimed to deliver aid and challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which has been in place since before the Israel-Hamas war. FCC said the vessel had been “prepared for the possibility of an Israeli attack”.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Madleen– which it referred to as a “selfie yacht of the celebrities” is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. Tel Aviv accused the activist travelling on the vessel of attempting to stage a media provocation to gain publicity and said the passengers of Madleen were expected to return to their home countries.
“The “selfie yacht” of the “celebrities” is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are expected to return to their home countries. While Greta and others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity — and which included less than a single truckload of aid — more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza,” the Ministry said in a post on X.
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve Instagram selfies. The tiny amount of aid that was on the yacht and not consumed by the “celebrities” will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels,” it added.
The FCC has, meanwhile, said Madleen was carrying a symbolic quantity of aid, including rice and baby formula.
The action came hours after the Israeli Defence Minister, Israel Katz, threatened to “take all necessary measures” to prevent Madleen from reaching Gaza and ordered the Israeli military to stop the ship. Israel said the purpose of its blockade, which has been in place since 2007, was necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Hamas militants in Gaza.
“This is not aid but a publicity stunt. They have less than 100 pounds of aid. A tiny fraction of what is being delivered successfully every day into Gaza,” Israeli Embassy Spokesperson Guy Nir told NDTV.
“Like they bring in aid – they might bring in other things, like ammunition. Hence, we need to check before entry, like all aid. They do not have different privileges. Every country that has an unauthorised vessel enter its territorial waters – will stop a vessel. Again. They do not have special privileges because there are celebrities on board,” he added.
However, the FFC said that Israel’s sea blockade is illegal, calling Tel Aviv’s stance an example of Israel threatening the unlawful use of force against civilians and “attempting to justify that violence with smears”.
“We will not be intimidated. The world is watching. The Madleen is a civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights defenders from across the globe… Israel has no right to obstruct our effort to reach Gaza,” FFC said in a statement.
The sailing of “Madleen” was the second attempt by FFC to reach Gaza in recent months. FFC vessel “Conscience” first attempted to reach Gaza in May, but the mission was aborted after the ship came under an alleged drone attack while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The FFC blamed Israel for the attack, which severely damaged the vessel. The Jewish State has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the alleged attack.
