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Here’s where things stand on Monday 9 June 2025:
- The Israeli Foreign Ministry says the Madleen’s crew is being taken to Israel after commandos seized the vessel in international waters.
- The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was about 100 nautical miles (185km) from Gaza when it was stopped.
- It was carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians starving because of the strict Israeli siege since March 2, which was lifted partially last month under mounting international pressure.
- Israel has killed 54,927 people in Gaza during this war after maintaining a land, sea and air blockade since 2007.
- The Madleen departed Sicily on June 1, one month after Israeli drones bombed another aid ship headed for Gaza. Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among the 12 activists now being detained by Israel.
Swedish activist accuses his country of being ‘complicit’ in Israel’s actions
Swedish activist Andrew Arendt Wegerif has condemned Israel’s seizure of the Madleen and criticised his own government for failing to clearly denounce the move.
“What happened is outrageous,” Wegerif, a member of Ship to Gaza Sweden – an organisation aiming to break Israel’s blockade of the enclave – told Al Jazeera. “Israel has once again broken international law and boarded a civilian vessel in international waters.”
He accused the Swedish government and other Western powers of being “complicit” in Israel’s actions, and urged Stockholm to speak out in support of Swedish citizen Greta Thunberg, who was among the activists on board the Madleen.
Wegerif expressed hope that the Madleen’s voyage would raise awareness about “war crimes” taking place in Gaza, as well as inspire other people to follow the Madleen’s exmaple.
“Our governments have been terribly complicit and so weak in their reaction … and therefore the people have to take action themselves,” he said.
Israel preparing to hold Madleen activists in separate cells in Givon Prison: Report
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has instructed prison authorities to prepare separate cells for the activists from the Madleen ship at Givon Prison in Ramla, where they will be held before being deported, according to Israel Hayom.
Upon arrival in Ashdod, the activists will be escorted to the prison in vehicles with tinted windows to minimise public attention, media reports said.
Ben-Gvir has also directed prison officials to prohibit the activists from possessing any pro-Palestinian symbols during their detention and to deny them access to electronics such as televisions and radios in their cells, according to the report.
Gaza’s hospitals in urgent need of protection, Red Cross warns
Gaza’s healthcare system is “extremely fragile” amid the ongoing Israeli war, the International Committee of the Red Cross has warned.
The organisation said in a statement on Sunday that the enclave’s hospitals are in urgent need of protection and reinforcement amid Israel’s continued bombardment and blockade.
It added that the system is facing growing pressure due to increasing casualty rates from Israeli attacks at aid points.
Read more here.
Over 130 hungry people killed at Gaza aid sites in 2 weeks: Media office
One of the goals of the Freedom Flotilla, the group behind the Madleen’s aid mission, is to educate people about the “unliveable conditions” in Gaza and how they are caused by “political and military choices”.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israel-backed group that took over aid distribution in Gaza in late May, has been accused of further worsening conditions, with deadly shootings against starving people breaking out at its distribution sites.
In total, Gaza’s Government Media Office says, 130 people have been killed and 1,000 more wounded around the GHF-run sites, which it calls an “arm of the Israeli occupation”.
The GHF “has never been on the side of humanity; rather, it has been a tool of pressure, starvation and murder against the civilian population”, said the media office.
“We call on the entire world not to be misled by this organisation, which practises organised and systematic crime,” it added, calling for the UN to take back over aid operations.
British surgeon on Israeli bombing: ‘Far more direct hits on people’ in Gaza
Dr Victoria Rose, a British surgeon, says that during her third humanitarian trip to Gaza in May, she usually operated on 12 or 13 patients per 14-hour shift for nearly four weeks – unless there was a mass casualty incident, which meant even longer shifts and more patients.
By comparison, in London hospitals, she treats a maximum of three patients per day. “It’s operating nonstop in Gaza,” she said.
Al Jazeera spoke with Rose about the growing intensity of the Israeli bombardments; the impact of malnutrition, which has been exacerbated by a three-month aid blockade; the deaths; and gunshot wounds she saw among Palestinians who desperately tried to get food via a new aid mechanism backed by the US and Israel.
She shared her sense of frustration that as the death toll rises and the scale of injuries is well documented, disbelief about Palestinian suffering prevails.
Read the full story here.
What you need to know about hunger crisis in Gaza
Aid agencies have warned that all residents in Gaza face the threat of famine after Israel imposed a blockade on the territory in March, blocking the entry of food, medicine and fuel.
Late last month, the United Nations said Gaza is the “hungriest place on Earth” and its entire population is at risk of famine.
On Friday, the UN revealed that more than 2,700 children below the age of five in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, marking a steep increase in the number of children suffering from the serious medical condition since a screening conducted in February.
Amid international pressure, Israel allowed some aid to enter Gaza last month, but aid groups have warned the amounts are inadequate.
At the same time, Israel has pushed for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a newly established, United States-backed private aid distributor, to provide food to starving Palestinians.
More than 100 people have been killed trying to receive aid at GHF distribution sites in Gaza since May 27. The UN and other aid groups have refused to work with the GHF, saying it lacks neutrality and its distribution model forces the displacement of Palestinians.
Recapping the Madleen’s journey
- The Madleen departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1 for its weeklong voyage to Gaza, carrying 12 activists and humanitarian supplies, including medicine, flour and baby formula.
- Sailing through international waters, the vessel passed between the Greek island of Crete and the Libyan coast.
- On June 5, the Madleen diverted course to respond to an SOS from a refugee boat in distress in the central Mediterranean. Although the vessel was intercepted by the Libyan coastguard, four Sudanese asylum seekers jumped into the sea and swam to the Madleen, which took them on board and later transferred them to the European coastguard.
- After resuming its route, the ship sailed off Egypt’s coast and reached a point roughly 160km (100 miles) from Gaza early today. There, Israeli speedboats intercepted the vessel and seized it. Israeli forces ordered the crew to throw their mobile phones into the sea and are now transporting its members to Israel’s port of Ashdod.
France calls for swift return of six nationals on board the Madleen
France wants to “facilitate the rapid return” of the six French nationals on board the Madleen, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says.
“As soon as the ship was boarded, we requested to be able to exercise our consular protection over them” and to visit them as soon as they reached Israeli territory “to ascertain their situation and facilitate their rapid return to France”, he said in a statement released to the media.
Spain summons Israeli diplomat over interception of Madleen ship
The Spanish newspaper El Pais and our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, quoting a source at Spain’s Foreign Ministry, are reporting that Israel’s charge d’affaires to the Iberian country has been summoned to protest against Israel’s interception of the Madleen ship.
Madrid has been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza and in April halted a $7.5m deal to buy ammunition from Israel.
What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?
As we wait for more updates on the seizure of the Madleen ship, Israeli forces have carried out multiple raids and detained several individuals since this morning in the occupied West Bank.
Here are the latest updates from the territory:
- Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians during a raid at the Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron.
- Two children were arrested by the Israeli army from Tammun town, south of Tubas.
- Israeli soldiers stormed the village of Silat al-Harithiya and the town of al-Yamoun, west of Jenin.
- Three Palestinians were arrested in Israeli raids in Bethlehem governate.
Madleen crew expected to be deported after reaching Israel
We are waiting to see visuals of the Madleen ship docking at Israel’s port of Ashdod.
It has certainly taken quite some time for Israeli forces to get the crew from international waters to the port.
For now, what we understand from the Israeli government is that it has detained the crew, it will force them to watch a compilation of videos of the October 7 attack [once they reach Ashdod] and then it will deport them to their respective countries.
The incitement against the crew has been phenomenal, both at the official level and across mainstream Israeli media.
The activists, including a European parliamentarian, are being accused of being Hamas supporters, of being terrorists and of being anti-Semitic.
Swedish government offers vague support for Madleen activists
There has been a little bit of reaction from the Swedish government. The foreign department has said that [Greta] Thunberg and any other Swedish citizens on the ship will be offered support if they need it.
But it’s kind of vague what that is. At the moment, the reaction in Sweden kind of depends on which side of the spectrum, left to right.
You look in the more left-leaning papers, it’s the top story, and the headline is that they’ve been imprisoned and kidnapped.
In some of the other newspapers, it’s maybe the number two or three story.
Turkiye joins outcry over Madleen seizure
Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry has spoken out against Israel’s interception of the Gaza-bound aid ship.
In a statement, the ministry called the move a “clear violation of international law” that “once again demonstrates that Israel is acting as a terror state”.
“Israel’s aggressive and unlawful actions will not silence the voices that stand up for human dignity and universal values,” it said.
Amnesty chief accuses Israel of violating international law
Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, has condemned Israel’s interception of the Madleen, asserting that it “violates international law”.
“As the occupying power (as recognised by the ICJ), Israel has a legal obligation to ensure civilians in Gaza have sufficient food and medicine. They should have let Madleen deliver its humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” she posted on X.
Callamard also appealed to other nations to do “far more than they have done to this date”.
“There is an on-going genocide. Military occupation. Apartheid. Palestinians in Gaza are starved. Humanitarian workers are targeted. Humanitarian aid is blocked,” she added.
Iran denounces Israel interception of Gaza-bound aid boat as ‘piracy’
Iran has condemned Israel’s interception of a Gaza-bound aid vessel carrying international activists, describing it as an act of piracy.
“The assault on this flotilla, since it happened in international waters, is considered a form of piracy under international law,” Esmaeil Baqaei, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters in Tehran.
What’s happening in Gaza?
Amid Israel’s seizure of the Madleen ship, deadly attacks have continued in Gaza. Here are the latest updates from the enclave:
- Israeli forces opened fire again on aid seekers near a distribution point in southern Gaza’s Rafah governorate, killing at least eight people, according to the Wafa news agency. Dozens more were also injured at an aid distribution centre near central Gaza’s so-called Netzarim Corridor, our colleagues on the ground report.
- Israeli drones hit several areas near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis governorate, killing six people in tent camps near al-Mawasi and killing another person to the east of Khan Younis city, according to local medical sources.
- Israel’s military issued another mass displacement order for northern Gaza’s Jabalia area, which faces heavy air and artillery strikes.
- Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from the enclave, says more people are fleeing Jabalia, but struggling to find shelter or resources in an increasingly crammed area.
- A wave of overnight raids took place across the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces shot and injured one person in the town of ar-Ram, north of Jerusalem, while detaining five people near Ramallah and Jericho.
‘Solidarity is not a crime’, says left-wing European Parliament group
A left-wing political group in the European Parliament has denounced Israel’s seizure of the Madleen as a “blatant violation of international law”.
“This interception, carried out outside Israeli territorial waters, constitutes a blatant violation of international law, including maritime and humanitarian law,” said The Left in the European Parliament, with 46 members.
“The arrest of the crew members and the confiscation of aid intended for a population in immediate humanitarian distress is unacceptable, and is clearly part of a wider strategy to starve and massacre Palestinians in Gaza while hiding Israeli war crimes from the world,” it added.
It urged “the European Union, the United Nations, and the entire international community to strongly condemn this illegal detention, demand the immediate and unconditional release of all crew members, and urge Israeli authorities to allow immediate and unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza”.
“Solidarity is not a crime, genocide is,” it added. “Free the Freedom Flotilla crew.”
Social media users push back against Israel’s ‘selfie yacht’ jab
Social media users are sharing photographs of Israeli soldiers taking selfies in Gaza in response to the Foreign Ministry calling the Madleen the “selfie yacht”.
In one post on X, Assal Rad, a fellow at the rights group DAWN, wrote “selfie yacht” next to a photograph of Israeli soldiers posing in front of destroyed buildings in Gaza.
Mitchell Plitnick, the president of NGO ReThinking Foreign Policy, also shared photographs of Israeli soldiers in Gaza, saying: “The Israeli government calls the humanitarian flotilla, the Madleen ‘the selfie yacht’. So what do we call the Israeli army?”
Israeli soldiers have continued to share photographs and videos of themselves making fun of Palestinians in Gaza since invading the Strip in late 2023.
Australian Jewish group calls for release of Madleen crew
The Jewish Council of Australia has expressed “grave concerns for the activists on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla” after it was intercepted and boarded by Israeli forces.
“We call on the Australian government to urgently intervene to secure the immediate release of the vessel and safety of the crew,” Sarah Schwartz, the council’s executive officer, said in a statement.
“Israel has a history of killing activists trying to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and cannot be trusted to ensure the safety of the Freedom Flotilla crew,” she added.
Schwartz also decried the “continued inaction of western governments” over Israeli breaches of international law.
“It has been months since meaningful humanitarian aid entered Gaza, with Palestinians in Gaza now at risk of imminent starvation and death,” she said.