How are the activists on sailing ship Madleen, now that that has been hired by Israel?

On Sunday night, the sailing ship De Madleen of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) organization, with which activists were on the way to Gaza, was guided by the Israeli army. The ship and the people on board have been taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The Madleen transported food, baby milk powder and medical agents, which are hardly available in Gaza by the Israeli blockade. With the journey, the FFC wanted to break the blockade and starvation of the population in Gaza. Six questions about the Madleen.

1
What happened on Sunday night with the Madleen?

The Madleen left the Italian port of Catania a week ago. On Sunday night, the ship was in international waters during the robbery, according to the organization about 185 kilometers from the coast of Gaza. On board the ship were twelve activists and humanitarian workers, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, French MEP Rima Hassan and the Dutch captain Mark van Rennes.

On Sunday night, contact with the crew of the ship was broken. Shortly before, the activists reported that two drones flew above the ship, which sprayed a white substance on the ship. After the ship was intercepted by the Israeli army around three in the morning, the ship and the activists were taken to Israel.

2
How are the activists doing now?

On Monday afternoon the activists had not yet arrived in Ashdod. In the port they are met by lawyers of the human rights organization Adalah, who will represent them in Israel. They are waiting for further information from the Israeli authorities. « Based on earlier ships of the FFC that we have represented, we expect that the activists will be tried in an Israeli court, following an expansion order by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, and then deported through the airport, » Lawyer Hadeel Abu Salih told by telephone against NRC From Ashdod. « They may be accused of illegal entry into Israel on the basis of the Israeli access law. But that is absurd, because the activists have been brought illegally from international waters to Israel. » A complicating factor in possible deportation is the fact that one of the people on board is Turkish. Turkey broke his diplomatic ties with Israel in November 2024.

3
What does the Israeli blockade of Gaza entail?

Since the beginning of March, Israel has again completely blocked the supply of relief supplies in Gaza, so that no help has been received for almost three months. According to a recent report Of the international food watchdog IPC, the entire population of Gaza (around two million inhabitants) has to deal with food insecurity and almost a quarter of the population runs risk of starving.

At the end of May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) initiated by Israel and the US began distributing food packages in four militarized distribution centers in Gaza. In addition, tens of Palestinians have been killed in the last two weeks due to shelling of the Israeli army and hundreds were injured. According to international aid organizations, the GHF mainly serves Israeli political and military interests and makes Israel emergency aid to weapon.

The full blockade that Israel set up in March came on top of the existing blockade of Gaza since 2007. Israel checks as an occupation power not only the borders around Gaza – in addition to its own borders also the southern border near Rafah together with Egypt – but also the airspace and the sea around Gaza. As a result, around 80 percent of the population of Gaza was already dependent on humanitarian aid in the years before October 2023.

4
What does international law say?

Israel’s takeover of the ship and picking up the crew is contrary to international law. « The activists have been arrested in international waters, and that is illegal, because Israel has no jurisdiction about this area, » explains Advocate Abu Salih. « In Gaza there is starvation and a lack of humanitarian aid, and Israel should have just allowed the ship. » The International Court of Appeal has Israel in the Genocide case of South Africa Repeatedly instructed to admit more humanitarian aid in Gaza.

If the ship the coast of Gaza was actually approaching and there had been stopped by the army, the interception would have been just as illegal, Abu Salih emphasizes because Israel occupies those waters unlawfully. ABU Salih refers to the advisory residence of the International Court of Justice of July last year. The Court of Appeal concluded that the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestinian area (Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem) is unlawful and must end as quickly as possible. As a occupation power, Israel has a duty to ensure that the population in the occupied area has enough food and medicines.

UN experts emphasized in one last week response On the journey of the Madleen that the Palestinian population is entitled to aid supply through the sea: « The population of Gaza has the right to receive help through his own territorial waters, even under occupation, and the ship of the coalition has the right to free passage in international waters to reach the population of Gaza, » said the VN experts. « Israel cannot interfere with the freedom of shipping, which has long been recognized by international law. »

The population of Gaza is entitled to help through their own territorial waters

5
How did there be internationally?

Official reactions have come from some countries. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Israeli agent of the Israeli embassy in Madrid. The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave a statement: « This horrible act of the Netanyahu government, which threatens freedom of shipping and maritime security, shows once again that Israel acts as a terrorist state. » French President Emmanuel Macron has asked Israel to « return to France as quickly as possible ». The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it would provide consular assistance to the arrested Dutch captain of the ship, Mark van Rennes.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the Flotilla on Monday as the « Selfie hunting ship », wrote that the « show is over ». The Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz ordered the army on Monday to show the arrested crew a video of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. He repeatedly called activist Greta Thunberg « anti-Semitic » and the activists on the boat « Hamas propagandists ».

6
How did the earlier sailing ships of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition go to Gaza?

In 2008 a pastor of the FFC managed to reach the coast of Gaza and then ships succeeded five more times. In 2010, a sailing trip from the FFC had a bloody outcome when Israeli soldiers attacked the Mavi Marmara ship. Nine activists were killed. Another person who was ongoing died of his injuries after years of coma. Last May an FFC ship in international waters near the coast of Malta was attacked by what the crew described as Israeli-armed drones, resulting in fire and damage to the hull.

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