After a week in Mediterranean waters, Israeli forces put an end to the journey of the Madleen to Gaza, intercepting the aid boat in international waters and arresting its 12 passengers, including the crew and Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
The boat, named after Madleen Kullab, a Palestinian fisherwoman from Gaza, had left the port of Catania in eastern Sicily in early June and set sail toward Gaza carrying food and medical supplies in an attempt to break the Israeli siege on the Strip. The mission was organized by the Freedom Flotilla, an international alliance of activist groups that has been organizing similar missions to Gaza since 2008.
In addition to Thunberg, the Madleen’s mission included French journalist and filmmaker Yanis Mhamdi, Brazilian activist and Freedom Flotilla member Thiago Avila, Turkish activist Suyab Ordu, Spanish activist Sergio Toribio, French activist Reva Viard, French activist and Freedom Freedom Flotilla veteran Pascal Maurieras, French journalist Omar Faiad, Dutch activist and member of the Freedom Flotilla Marco van Rennes, French activist and doctor Baptiste Andre, German activist Yasemin Acar, French-Palestinian member of the European parliament Rima Hassan.
At around 1:30 in the morning local time, only a few dozen miles from Palestinian shores, activists on board the Madleen reported being surrounded by three Israeli military boats, which sounded their sirens at the Madleen. Activists also reported that Israeli drones were dropping an unknown white liquid substance on the boat as they were preparing to encounter an Israeli takeover. At around 2:00 a.m., Israeli troops boarded the boat after surrounding it, taking control of the vessel as activists onboard raised their hands up in the air, shortly before the Madleen lost contact.
Activists had previously recorded video messages calling on people to act and pressure their governments to demand their release in case they were arrested by Israeli forces. The footage was posted online shortly after the interception of the boat.
The Madleen’s voyage marks the second attempt in the last month to break Israel’s siege of Gaza by sea. In early May, the Freedom Flotilla’s boat, the Conscience, was attacked by drones shortly before setting sail from Malta. Organizers said that they suspect Israel was behind the drone attack.
Last week, as the Madleen sailed toward Gaza, activists on board repeatedly warned that they suspected an Israeli attack on the boat. In 2010, Israeli forces assaulted another aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, on a mission to Gaza. The attack resulted in the killing of nine Turkish activists by Israeli forces.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stated on Sunday that he had instructed the Israeli army to prevent the Madleen “hate flotilla” from reaching Gaza’s shores as the boat sailed near Egyptian waters, and to “take whatever measures are necessary to that end.” Katz directly addressed 22-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg: “To the antisemitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: you should turn back because you will not reach Gaza.”
‘To know there are people willing to break the siege is beyond words’
In Gaza, Palestinians awaited the arrival of the Madleen, with “little hope that it will be allowed to arrive,” according to Eyad ِAbu Mousa, an engineer at the Gaza Relief Committee, who coordinates efforts between different international aid organizations and was in contact with the passengers of the Madleen until it was commandeered.
“In Gaza, we followed the news of the Madleen every hour, hoping to receive them, but we know too well how the Israeli occupation deals with any attempt to break the siege,” Abu Mousa told Mondoweiss. “In fact, we were concerned about their safety because of previous experiences, like the Mavi Marmara, but the Madleen team told us constantly that they are fully aware of the risk, and that they are prepared to face any scenario,” he pointed out.
“Speaking to them every day, the passengers of the Madleen expressed a very high human sense of responsibility, which we in Gaza admire and appreciate very much,” Abu Mousa continued. “Especially at a time when we feel that the entire world has turned its back on us and accepted the genocide. To know that there are those out there who are not only speaking out for us, but willing to take a risk to break the siege, is beyond words.”
“What we learned from the Madleen crew is that most of the humanitarian aid they had on board is children’s formula, in addition to other food items and medical supplies, all of which are desperately needed in Gaza,” Abu Mousa said. “Had they been allowed to reach Gaza, the cargo would have been unloaded and distributed immediately, because the need is so great that people would have already been at the port waiting for the aid, but the quantity is also small and almost symbolic compared to the actual need.”
“If there were more missions like the Madleen taking place, then maybe some of them could reach Gaza, and the impact would be much greater,” he went on.
Early on Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Israeli forces had redirected the Madleen to the port of Ashdod and that its passengers would be deported to their countries of origin. As of the time of writing, no news as to the whereabouts of the Madleen has been reported.
Israel has imposed a full siege on Gaza since breaking its ceasefire with Hamas in mid-March and resumed bombing the territory. For the past two weeks, Israel has tasked the shadowy American-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) with distributing limited amounts of food to Palestinians at specific distribution points, where many aid massacres against starving civilians have taken place. Just last week, 30 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds rushing to obtain food rations, after being forced to walk long distances to reach these remote distribution points.
“The distribution method implemented by the U.S. and Israel is humiliating, inefficient, and clearly is meant to provoke engineered chaos,” Abu Mousa said. “It is aimed at bringing about the collapse of social cohesion among people as they rush to obtain limited daily rations that aren’t enough for everybody.”
“It is a death sentence, because Israeli forces always shoot, supposedly to maintain order at the distribution points, and if you don’t get shot today while trying to get food for your family, you might get shot tomorrow,” he continued. “It is illogical to continue with this method when we have 400 distribution centers, where UNRWA staff ran the operations efficiently all across the Strip. Never in decades did the chaos that we see now happen.”
“This is why the message of the Madleen activists and all those calling for humanitarian aid to access Gaza freely is so important, and this is why it has to continue,” he stressed.
I was a member of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a passenger on the Greek boat Sfendoni. What just happened to the Madleen is almost exactly what happened to us – minus, of course, the 10 (not 9 as reported here. 1 more died later) murdered Turks on the Mavi. I expect that the 12 members of the Mafleen will also be detained (imprisoned) for a few days, then allowed to return home. Greta’s presence may have acted as a restraint against violence being inflicted on the crew by this much more murderous version of Israel than we experienced 15 years ago.
I understand that the group will have to sit through a video of the Oct. 7 attack which, I expect, to be a much more, say, Zionist stylized version of actual events that day. This, yet again, shows the complete ignorance of who we anti Zionists are, particularly members of the Flotilla Coalition. To think that showing this video will sway any of the crew from their views on Israel/Palestine gives new meaning to the term ‘self delusional’. But, hey, this is the same people calling this a ‘hate flotilla’, another classic example of projection by the stand-with-Israel-at-all-cost Zionist cult.
All in all, what’s happened thus far is a best case scenario. The Madleen was NEVER going to make it to Gaza. So, if the message is conveyed, as it seems it has been, that there are still many people out there that care enough about the people of Gaza to take on a dangerous mission like this, if Greta becomes even more outspoken about the cause of the Palestinians and, finally, if the crew remains safe from real harm, then we should consider this mission a great success.
RE: “For the past two weeks, Israel has tasked the shadowy American-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) with distributing limited amounts of food to Palestinians at specific distribution points, where many aid massacres against starving civilians have taken place.” ~ Qassam Muaddi
RICHARD SILVERSTEIN: . . . Yossi Melman, writing in Haaretz, exposes yet another covert effort by Israel to provide humanitarian aid under its control. One of its many purposes was to bypass the current independent international NGOs. Media reported that a mysterious organization, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, would fund and run the operation with assistance from former US special forces security personnel. Melman reveals for the first time that the Mossad had created the dummy foundation in Switzerland. The source of the funding was equally opaque. It turns out the the ministry of defense was providing the financial support to the tune of $140-million per month. Though, he points out there are rumors that American Jewish right-wing billionaires provided interim financing. . .
SOURCE – https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2025/06/06/israels-gaza-proxy-the-palestinian-collaborators/