Washington D.C. – Truthout, June 09, 2025
Israeli forces commandeered the humanitarian aid boat and arrested its 12 passengers.
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 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.
