Gaza flotilla: How Gaza-bound Madleen was attacked and activists on board abducted

By Alireza Akbari

At around 3:30 a.m. local time on June 9, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) announced it had lost contact with the Madleen, a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid vessel, and shared an image of the 12 activists on board with life jackets on and hands raised.

Just moments earlier, the FFC had warned that the Madleen was “under assault in international waters.” The boat, carrying essential food and medical supplies for Palestinians starved under Israeli blockade, was suddenly but not unexpectedly hit by electronic interference.

The ship's live tracking and navigation systems were disabled, and its location was spoofed, appearing falsely near Jordan while en route to the Gaza Strip.

“Quadcopters are surrounding the ship, spraying it with a white irritant substance. Communications are jammed, and disturbing sounds are being played over the radio,” the FFC noted in a statement released in the early hours of Monday.

In a final video update shared at 2:40 a.m. EEST via FFC’s Telegram channel — minutes before the Madleen was rammed and boarded by Israeli regime forces — German activist Yasmin Acar, 37, appeared visibly shaken.

In a selfie video, she stood on the contaminated deck, surrounded by stunned fellow activists, after unknown chemicals had been dropped from Israeli drones on the deck.

“They are dropping chemicals on us,” said Acar, turning her camera toward the white substance coating the deck. “Look at this, look at this,” she said, before yelling: “Everyone take cover, please.”

“They are not peaceful. This is not an interception. This is another war crime about to happen. We are civilians carrying nothing but humanitarian aid. Please keep your eyes on us.”

Just hours before what Acar described as a “war crime,” FFC’s Telegram channel posted the Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila’s voice message at 1:38 a.m. EEST.

“Hey everyone, giving an update—this unfortunately has been a very unlikely false alarm. We’ve been surrounded by many lights all at once, circling our boat. In the end, they kept going their own way. Could be IOF vessels, but we’re not sure.”

Earlier, around 1 a.m. BST, an alarm had already been raised aboard the Madleen. Activists donned life jackets and prepared for what they feared would be an imminent assault.

That assault came hours later, when the Israeli navy intercepted the Madleen and forcibly removed all 12 civilians onboard. The aid boat had set sail from Sicily a week earlier, carrying humanitarian supplies to Gaza to break the Israeli regime’s long-standing blockade of the Palestinian territory.

Following the attack, the FFC released pre-recorded video messages from the activists, in which they warned that if the videos were being viewed, it meant they had been “kidnapped by Israeli forces” — and called on their respective governments to act immediately to “secure their release.”

“My name is Yasemin Acar, and I am from Germany. If you are seeing this video, we have been intercepted at sea and kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces or by one of its allies complicit in the genocide of Palestinians,” said Acar in a pre-recorded video.

She appealed to friends, comrades, and family to pressure the German government for her immediate release. 

“My name is Greta Thunberg and I am from Sweden. If you see this video, we have been intercepted and kidnapped in international waters by the Israeli occupation forces or forces supporting Israel,” said the 22-year-old activist. 

Brazilian journalist Thiago Ávila, French doctor Baptiste André, and French journalist Yanis Mhamdi also had pre-recorded messages published shortly after contact with the Madleen was lost.

Madleen’s seizure drew a wave of anger and outrage worldwide as the act was in brazen violation of international law. According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), vessels on the high seas fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of their flag state.

They cannot be boarded or seized by another party unless authorized by a UN Security Council resolution or justified under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which permits self-defense.

The Charter also prohibits the use of force against neutral civilian ships except under narrow, clearly defined conditions — none of which were demonstrably met in the case of the Madleen.

International humanitarian law, including the San Remo Manual on Naval Warfare, outlines specific criteria for intercepting neutral vessels: the presence of a declared and lawful blockade, reasonable suspicion of contraband, and refusal to comply with inspection.

The Madleen carried baby formula, desalination kits, and medical supplies. No evidence has emerged that it was transporting contraband or violating any blockade terms.

In the absence of clear legal justification, the Israeli interception constitutes a breach of international maritime law and the Charter’s prohibition on unlawful use of force.

Following the seizure of the vessel and confiscation of its aid cargo, Israel’s foreign ministry dismissed the mission, referring to the Madleen as a “selfie yacht” and mocking its passengers as “celebrities,” adding they would soon be deported to their home countries.

Under maritime conventions such as UNCLOS and SOLAS, vessels carrying humanitarian aid, especially those sailing in international waters, are afforded protections.

These frameworks obligate respect for missions delivering relief to civilians in conflict zones. The forcible seizure of the Madleen not only violates these standards but sets a dangerous precedent for the treatment of neutral humanitarian efforts.

In its formal response, the FFC slammed Israeli forces for “unlawfully boarding the ship, abducting its unarmed civilian crew, and confiscating its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food, and medical supplies.”

Gaza-based resistance group Hamas also condemned the unwarranted and illegal raid, calling it “a brazen assault on human conscience.”

In a statement, the group denounced the interception as “a crime of piracy committed by the Zionist occupation forces,” forcibly preventing the Madleen from reaching Gaza and towing it to Ashdod port.

“The interception of the Madleen at sea and the prevention of its symbolic aid delivery to our people, who are facing a genocidal war, constitutes state-sponsored terrorism, a blatant violation of international law, and an assault on civilian volunteers motivated by humanitarian principles.”

Francesca P. Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, also slammed the occupying regime for intercepting the Gaza-bound aid ship.

In a post on X, she called for the immediate release of the Madleen and urged a coordinated Mediterranean effort to send more ships bearing “aid, solidarity, and humanity” to Gaza.

“They shall sail together—united, they will be unstoppable,” she wrote. “Breaking the siege is a legal duty for states, and a moral imperative for all of us,” she added.

The seizure came just one day after Israeli war minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the Israeli Occupation Forces to prevent the Madleen from reaching Gaza.

“To the anti-Semitic Greta and her fellow Hamas propaganda spokespeople, I say clearly: You should turn back—because you will not reach Gaza,” Katz posted on X (formerly Twitter).

The FFC responded defiantly, refusing to be silenced. “The Madleen is a peaceful civilian vessel, unarmed and sailing in international waters with humanitarian aid and human rights defenders,” the group wrote.

“This mission is independent, guided only by conscience and solidarity with Gaza. We will not be intimidated.”

In a statement early on Tuesday, the Israeli regime said the activists abducted following the attack on Madleen have been taken to a Tel Aviv airport for deportation.

“The passengers of the ‘Selfie Yacht’ arrived at Ben Gurion airport to depart from Israel and return to their home countries,” the Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement posted on X.

“Those who refuse to sign deportation documents and leave Israel will be brought before a judicial authority.”

The 12 activists who were on board are from France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands. The 22-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is among those being deported.

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