The armed seizure of a humanitarian aid ship in international waters has triggered international condemnation and renewed scrutiny of Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Madleen, a United Kingdom-flagged vessel carrying baby formula, food, prosthetics for children, and other supplies, was intercepted early Monday by Israeli naval forces approximately 100 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza. On board were 12 unarmed civilian volunteers from across Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East—including climate activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a Palestinian French Member of the European Parliament.
The ship was part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organized the voyage as a direct humanitarian mission to deliver aid and challenge Israel’s siege of Gaza. The group said the Madleen was “unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo—including baby formula, food, and medical supplies—confiscated.”
The Israeli military’s elite naval unit Shayetet 13 reportedly conducted the operation, boarding the ship around 3:00 a.m. local time. Passengers had been documenting their journey until communication was cut. In a final video shared by Al Jazeera, light from outside floods the cabin as passengers raise their arms and a voice over a loudspeaker tells them, “don’t be afraid.” One of the crew can be heard saying, “we are being intercepted right now,” while another voice commands, “phones are thrown into the water.”
Greta Thunberg, speaking in a video later posted by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, said: “If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupational forces, or forces that support Israel. I urge all my friends, family, and comrades to put pressure on the Swedish government to release me and the others as soon as possible.”
Israeli authorities have confirmed the vessel is being redirected to the port of Ashdod, where all 12 passengers are being held for “interrogation.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry dismissed the aid ship as a “selfie yacht,” adding that there are other “ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip.” However, humanitarian groups and UN officials have repeatedly cited Israel’s near-total blockade as the primary obstacle to aid delivery, with the United Nations warning of widespread famine in the besieged enclave.
Among those detained are Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi, and Reva Viard from France; Thiago Avila from Brazil; Suayb Ordu from Turkiye; Sergio Toribio from Spain; Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands; Yasemin Acar from Germany; and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher. Before contact was lost, Faiad had been live-streaming the journey.
Video clips posted by Yasemin Acar in the final moments aboard the Madleen showed a drone hovering overhead and what appeared to be a white substance sprayed onto the ship’s deck. “They did say they want to intercept us in a calm way, but this is not what is happening,” she said.
Legal experts, human rights advocates, and state officials around the world swiftly condemned the raid. “The assault on this flotilla, since it happened in international waters, is considered a form of piracy under international law,” said Esmaeil Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The rights group Al-Haq, based in the occupied West Bank, said: “Israel has no legal authority to restrict access to Palestine since such is within the exclusive right of the Palestinian people.”
Huwaida Arraf, a human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organizer, stated, “Israel has no legal authority to detain international volunteers aboard the Madleen. These volunteers are not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade—their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately.”
Heidi Matthews, assistant professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, echoed that position. “The world is watching Israel attack a civilian boat carrying no weapons—only humanitarian aid—flying a U.K. flag in international waters and carrying humanitarians of many nationalities. Israel has precisely zero authority to do so under any law,” she wrote.
The international political response has been swift and growing. In France, the Elysée Palace confirmed President Emmanuel Macron “has asked that our six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible.” France’s foreign ministry said it has requested consular access to the detained citizens. Spain summoned the Israeli embassy’s charge d’affaires in Madrid. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the operation as a “clear violation of international law” and said it “once again demonstrates that Israel is acting as a terror state.”
The European Parliament faction The Left, of which Hassan is a member, issued a statement condemning the “blatant violation of international law,” adding: “The arrest of the crew members and the confiscation of aid intended for a population in immediate humanitarian distress is unacceptable and is clearly part of a wider strategy to starve and massacre Palestinians in Gaza while hiding Israeli war crimes from the world.”
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, called for the immediate release of the Madleen. “Breaking the siege is a legal duty for states and a moral imperative for all of us. Every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity and humanity to Gaza. They shall sail together – united, they will be unstoppable,” she said.
Amnesty International also condemned the interception. “As the occupying power (as recognised by the ICJ), Israel has a legal obligation to ensure civilians in Gaza have sufficient food and medicine,” said secretary-general Agnes Callamard. “They should have let Madleen deliver its humanitarian supplies to Gaza.”
In the United States, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the seizure “a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism.” Executive director Nihad Awad said: “We applaud Greta Thunberg and the other activists of the Madleen who bravely risked their safety and freedom to help the starving people of Gaza. We call on governments—especially western governments funding Israel’s genocide and Arab Muslim governments watching it happen—to show an iota of the courage demonstrated by those on the Madleen by using every tool at their disposal to force an end to the genocide.”
Protests erupted globally following the news. In Paris, crowds gathered at Place de la République, demanding the release of the Madleen passengers. In Australia, snap demonstrations took place in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.
Despite Israel’s insistence that aid can be delivered through approved channels, humanitarian organizations say such routes are tightly restricted and inadequate. The interception of a ship carrying baby formula and medical supplies, far outside Israel’s territorial waters, has intensified questions about the legality and morality of Israel’s blockade—and the extent to which governments worldwide will tolerate actions that appear to defy international law.
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