Israel intercepts the Freedom Flotilla heading to Gaza with aid.

The ship Madleen with the Freedom Flotilla on board and a symbolic cargo of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip was intercepted early Monday morning by the Israeli army. “We are being attacked. A war crime is being committed,” stated Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila on his social media around midnight. The Israeli Foreign Ministry reported in a message on X that young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who is part of the flotilla, is “safe and sound” and on her way to Israel. The tweet is accompanied by a photo of Thunberg with a soldier offering her a pastry.

Several of the 12 activists aboard the Madleen managed to share videos and brief messages at the moment they reported being “kidnapped” by Israeli forces. Ávila emphasized that Israel has committed a war crime with this operation as they are in international waters. They also prevented the legitimate arrival of humanitarian aid to the Strip.

French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan has shared an hourly message on X to document when they lost communication due to the Israeli intervention. “Once we stop communicating, it will mean that internet has been cut and that Israel is preparing to attack us. This will give them a better idea of the timing,” she explained. The first was at 11:12 PM on Sunday, local time (10:12 PM in mainland Spain), with the third and last at 1:12 AM on Monday.

Shortly thereafter, Hassan published a last image from the deck of the ship with stains resembling paint. “A drone above us released a white liquid,” she reported on X. Radio had ceased to function due to intentional “jamming,” meaning they could no longer call for assistance from another vessel.

Defense Minister Israel Katz congratulated the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for their “swift and secure capture of the Madleen flotilla to prevent them from breaking the blockade and reaching the shores of Gaza.”

According to Katz’s statement, he has ordered his forces to “show the passengers a video of the horrors of the October 7 massacre when they arrive at the port of Ashdod.” He again attacked the Swedish activist: “It is fitting that the anti-Semite Greta and her Hamas-supporting comrades see exactly who the terrorist organization is that they came to support and for whom they work.”

For its part, Hamas has condemned the interception of the ship and described the operation as “state terrorism” and a “flagrant attack on human conscience.” The volunteers, it defended, aimed to “break the siege and expose the crime of hunger.” The attempt of the Freedom Flotilla to bring aid to Gaza signifies, according to the Islamist group in their communication channels, that “Gaza is not alone.”

On Sunday afternoon, when the ship was less than 300 kilometers from the coast of the Palestinian Strip, Katz had already warned that he had instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to act to prevent the “flotilla of hate” from reaching Gaza’s shores. “And to take all necessary measures for that purpose. To the anti-Semite Greta and her Hamas propaganda spokespersons, I clearly say: they must return, for they will not reach Gaza,” he added.

In anticipation of the interception of the ship by Israeli forces, which ultimately occurred, the activists had prepared a series of videos stating their names and nationalities, with their passports in hand as proof, including Spanish volunteer Sergio Toribio. They are calling on their respective governments to intervene. They also urge the public to apply pressure through various channels for their country leaders to take action against Israel.

In this regard, the Freedom Flotilla coalition further reminds that the Madleen is a civilian ship flying the flag of the United Kingdom and that it “has a legal obligation to protect its ship and the civilians on board from Israeli intervention.” A similar appeal has been made by the UN rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese: “The UK government must urgently seek a full clarification and ensure the immediate release of the ship and its crew.” She has called for the ship to be allowed to continue “its legitimate humanitarian mission.”

The Freedom Flotilla was established in 2010 as a peaceful coalition in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Always with the humanitarian purpose of bringing aid to Gaza when Israel has blocked access. That year, a convoy carrying 10,000 tons of aid to the Strip, consisting of six ships with 750 people, was also intercepted by Israeli forces, resulting in a fatal outcome: 10 people died and around twenty were injured in that military intervention at the end of May.

On this occasion, the Freedom Flotilla aimed to bring a symbolic amount of food to the starving population of Gaza, mainly rice and formula milk. But above all, their journey represented a symbolic attempt to “open a humanitarian corridor” after months of blockade and obstruction to the entry of goods.

Israel has been preventing the smooth arrival of humanitarian aid to the Strip since March 2, when the government of Benjamin Netanyahu imposed a total blockade that lasted more than 80 days. The hunger and shortage crisis was so severe, with the entire population of the territory (2.1 million people, nearly half of whom are children) at serious risk due to lack of food, that Israeli authorities opened the door to the entry of a limited number of trucks.

However, the amount is insufficient, as repeatedly reported by the UN. Israeli forces barely allow access to 100 trucks with supplies, even though organizations estimate that between 500 and 600 of these vehicles are needed daily to meet the basic needs of the population.

The militarized distribution, outside the UN, of food parcels by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (FHG), supported by Israel and the United States, does not address the food shortages of Gazans, does not provide acceptable security conditions—over 130 people have been shot dead while going to FHG distribution points—and therefore does not comply with fundamental humanitarian principles, according to NGOs and the UN.