Before Israel forces seized the Madleen, a British-flagged aid ship bound for Gaza, in the early morning of Monday, June 9, its crew had reportedly lost communication with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), media outlet Al Jazeera, and Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories.
Al Jazeera reporter Omar Faiad, environmental activist Greta Thunberg, and European Parliament Member Rima Hassan were among the 12 crew members attempting to make their way across the Mediterranean Sea to deliver food, baby formula, and medical supplies to Gaza amid an 11-week aid blockade by Israel. They departed from Sicily on June 1 and were last tracked off the coast of Egypt just before the Israeli army intercepted the ship on Monday, 100 nautical miles away from Gaza and in international waters.
Israeli drones sprayed an unidentified white substance on the ship, which German activist Yasemin Acar, one of the crew, said irritated her eyes. Al Jazeera reports that they were also ordered to throw their phones overboard.
On Monday evening, the Madleen docked in Ashdod, Israel, where the crew was shown footage of the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz. They were then taken to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for deportation on Tuesday, June 10. As of Tuesday afternoon, Thunberg has flown out to Sweden via France, according to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).
Months-Long Blockade
After Israeli authorities intercepted the Madleen, the MFA posted a brief statement on X, calling the ship a “selfie yacht” of “celebrities.”
“While [Thunberg] 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,” the ministry said. “And in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza.”
“There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip,” they added. “They do not involve Instagram selfies.”
Israel enforced a blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza in March 2025. As of early May, the Associated Press reported that over 7,000 aid trucks were lined up and waiting for permission and safety to cross borders to deliver food, sanitation, and shelter supplies.
The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that Palestinians in Gaza are facing “one of the world’s worst hunger crises” as Israel continues to withhold aid. “71,000 children under the age of five are expected to be acutely malnourished over the next eleven months,” WHO said, quoting a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership. If the blockade continues, the IPC may declare famine in the city.
WHO added that Israel’s plan to deliver aid across Gaza through proposed distribution sites is “grossly inadequate” to meet the needs of over two million Palestinians.
“A well-established and proven humanitarian coordination system, led by the UN and its partners, is already in place and must be allowed to function fully to ensure that aid is delivered in a principled, timely, and equitable manner,” they said.
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