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Here’s where things stand on Thursday 5 June 2025:
- The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), is en route to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid as the Palestinian enclave faces food shortages due to more than 90 days of total Israeli blockade.
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg is among the 12 activists on board the vessel to break Israel’s siege of the Strip since March 2. The enclave has already been under Israel’s land, sea and air blockade since 2007.
- The Madleen departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1, just one month after Israeli drones bombed another FFC aid ship headed for Gaza. This is the latest effort to send aid into Gaza, where more than 54,000 people have been killed in Israeli bombardment.
- The 2,000km (1,250-mile) journey is expected to take seven days, provided there are no disruptions. The ship’s location is being monitored live by Forensic Architecture and using a Garmin live tracker on board. The latest location as of June 4, at 07:23 GMT, was 70 nautical miles (130km) southwest of the Greek island of Crete.
- Israel’s Walla news agency has reported that the military is preparing for the possibility of seizing the Madleen if it enters “prohibited” waters, although it stressed no final decision has been made.
Israel will not allow Madleen to dock in Gaza: Report
The Jerusalem Post, quoting an unnamed “senior Israeli defence source”, has reported that Israel will not allow the passage of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship.
The report said that if the activists disobey orders from the Israeli military, their ship could be seized and they could face arrest.
It goes on to say that Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz is expected to make a more firm decision on a course of action towards the ship today.
What we know about the Israeli-made drone tracking the Freedom Flotilla
As we have been reporting, an Israel-made drone being operated by Greece’s Hellenic Coastguard hovered over the Madleen ship for two consecutive nights on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Following a drone attack on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship off the coast of Malta in May, activists on board the Madleen have expressed concern for their safety.
Here’s what we know about the high-tech drone:
- The IAI Heron UAV was designed in mid-1990s by the Malat division of major aerospace and aviation manufacturer Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
- The Israeli military handed IAI $50m multi-year contract to supply it with Heron UAVs in September 2005.
- The Heron drone remains in use today, having been deployed extensively during Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as in its military campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
- The Heron is designated as a long-endurance, medium-altitude UAV, and can operate at altitudes of 10km (6 miles) for 52 continuous hours and carry payloads weighing 1,000kg (2,200lb).
- In 2020, the Greek government announced it had signed an agreement with Israel to lease three Heron UAV’s with the stated purpose of border security and maritime surveillance.
- Besides Greece, several countries – including India, Germany, Canada, and Australia – use the Heron drone for surveillance and maritime patrol missions.
French politician on board Madleen says drone hovering above ship is Greek
As we reported earlier, activists on board the Freedom Flotilla vessel have reported that for a second successive night, a drone has hovered above the ship as it sails in international waters bound for Gaza.
Rima Hassan, a French member of European Parliament who is on board the Madleen ship, has now said she believes the drone is again being operated by Greek authorities.
“I’d like someone to explain to me why Greek drones are coming to monitor us above our heads in the middle of the night while we’re asleep. They’re coming during the day!” she said in a post on X.
An Israel-made drone operated by Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard hovered over the Madleen in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Almost half a million letters sent demanding Israel not harm Madleen
An online campaign calling on the public to write letters demanding that Israel not harm the Madleen or the activists on board has racked up more than 498,000 submissions.
Organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, participants in the campaign are asked to “put Israel on notice” by sending a prepared letter to Israeli officials as well as the UN and foreign governments.
The letter states: “Any interception, attack, sabotage, or interference with the Madleen or its civilian passengers and crew will constitute a deliberate, knowing, and unlawful attack on civilians and a violation of international law.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition states on its website: “We are putting them on notice”.
“But this letter alone will not stop an attack on those trying to deliver aid to the Palestinian people of Gaza. Your voice and action are what make this protection real,” it states.
The coalition hopes to reach a goal of more than 800,000 letters.
‘From the Mediterranean to Gaza’: Madleen activist remembers Pylos tragedy
Freedom Flotilla volunteer Yasemin Acar, who is on board the Madleen, posted earlier on social media that their sailboat was near the location where more than 600 people died – mostly from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt – in what has become known as the Pylos shipwreck.
“They were migrants seeking safety. They called for help and Europe let them die,” Acar said.
“This isn’t just a tragedy, it’s a policy. Fortress Europe is killing people at sea.”
“From the Mediterranean to Gaza. We are here to break these deadly borders, because freedom of movement and the right to live in dignity, belong to everyone,” she said.
Drone hover above Freedom Flotilla for second night
As we previously reported, an Israel-made drone operated by Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard hovered over the Madleen ship in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Thiago Avila, a steering committee member of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, who is on board the Madleen, has now reported a “new drone threat against our humanitarian mission” about 57km (35 miles) from Greece in international waters.
“This time the drone came closer than any other and passed above our boat, which is a CRITICAL threat, considering one month ago Israel bombed our boat in conditions like these at a similar hour,” he wrote in a post on Instagram.
The source of the drone is yet to be confirmed. We will bring you more information when we have it.
Israeli military says it will ‘act accordingly’ in response to Freedom Flotilla
The Israeli military has warned it will take measures against the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, as a vessel chartered by the activist group approaches Gaza to protest Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave.
When asked about the vessel by British newspaper The Times, Israeli military spokesperson Effie Defrin said, “For this case as well, we are prepared.”
“We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly,” he said, without offering details.
Freedom Flotilla slams ‘threat’ by Israel
International activists on the Madleen have condemned Israel’s “declared intent to attack” their vessel as it crosses the Mediterranean en route to Gaza, the AFP news agency reports.
In a statement, the activist coalition said it “strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen”, calling it a “threat”.
“Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in Gaza, the group said.
Israel’s military has said it is ready to “protect” its seas and that it was “prepared” for the arrival of the boat.
The Madleen is carrying medical supplies, flour, rice, baby formula, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, crutches and children’s prosthetics for the people of Gaza.
Freedom Flotilla issued distress signal after drone circled overhead
There was confusion and panic aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on Tuesday night after a drone was spotted circling overhead, prompting the crew to issue a distress signal while sailing outside Greek territorial waters. The drone was later identified as belonging to Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard.
The Gaza-bound mission continues undeterred, a month after another ship belonging to the Freedom Flotilla was attacked by drones off the coast of Malta, an incident the activist group blames on Israel or one of its allies.
Madleen sailing south of Greece’s Crete
A liver tracker currently shows the Madleen sailing to the south of the Greek island of Crete.
The vessel is expected to arrive in waters off the Gaza Strip by June 7, with Israeli media reporting the military plans to block the vessel from reaching the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The Madleen passing between Greece and Libya
Reporting from onboard the Madleen, Al Jazeera Mubasher’s Omar Fayyad says the vessel is currently passing between the Greek island of Crete and the coast of Libya.
Fayyad said the activists are aware of reports that the Israeli military will either prevent the boat from reaching Gaza and keep it in international waters or arrest everyone on board, and they are preparing for both scenarios.
What have UN experts said about the Freedom Flotilla?
As the Madleen set sail from Italy earlier this week, 10 United Nations experts appealed for the vessel’s safe passage.
“Aid is desperately needed for the people of Gaza to forestall annihilation, and this initiative is a symbolic and powerful effort to deliver it,” they said in a statement at the time.
The experts included a warning against Israel taking any military action against the boat.
“Israel must not interfere with its freedom of navigation, long recognised under international law,” the statement said.
“Israel should remember that the world is watching closely and refrain from any act of hostility against the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and its passengers.”
The UN experts also emphasised the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where limited aid has spurred fears of famine.
“The people of Gaza have the right to receive aid through their own territorial waters even under occupation, and the Coalition ship has the right to free passage in international waters to reach the people of Gaza,” they said.
Advocacy group says international attention can help flotilla
The Institute for Middle East Understanding has urged its supporters to raise awareness about the dangerous journey the Madleen is undertaking as it sails to Gaza.
“The activists on board the Freedom Flotilla need our help,” the group said on the social media platform X.
“International attention and support can protect their ship and their lives as they complete their journey to Gaza. Speak out to demand that Israel abide by international law and let the Freedom Flotilla reach Gaza unharmed.”
‘The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is taking action’
The US progressive group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has praised Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists, saying they are putting themselves at risk to call “attention to the Israeli government and military’s ongoing and US-backed genocide”.
“As the US and other world powers refuse to hold the Israeli government accountable for its forced mass starvation and ongoing genocide in Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is taking action,” JVP in a series of social media posts said. “We stand with them.”
Israel considering seizing Madleen: Report
The Walla news site has reported that Israeli navy commandos are preparing for the possibility of seizing the Madleen.
The Hebrew language report, which cited unnamed military sources, stressed that no decision on how Israel would respond to the vessel has been made.
A source said the crew would be given a warning to not enter the “prohibited maritime area” around Gaza, and that forces could then seize the boat if they do not comply with the order.
In 2010, the Israeli military raided the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in the Mediterranean Ocean, killing 10 people on board.
European Parliament member says media attention is key for flotilla
Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament who is on board the Madleen, has published a video clip with the French-language media site Blast where she explained why public opinion is critical for the aid mission’s success.
“It’s indispensable for us to communicate as massively and widely as possible about this effort, precisely because the previous boat adopted the opposite strategy,” she said.
She pointed out that the last aid mission organised by the Freedom Flotilla faced Israeli drone strikes upon its approach to the Gaza Strip.
“It had relied on total discretion to lead its humanitarian mission to the Gaza Strip, and they were targeted by an Israeli drone,” she explained.
“So to protect this effort, guarantee its success and assure security for the people on board, we are forced to publicise as much as possible our actions and mobilise public opinion — especially international public opinion — to be our intermediaries and act in our names if something happens to us.”
Hassan also called on French President Emmanuel Macron to end impunity for Israel and assure the Madleen’s safe passage to Gaza so it can fulfil its mission.
Don’t forget us’: Crew member gives update from Madleen
Turkish citizen Suayb Ordu has given a livestream update from the Madleen, calling on those watching to pressure their governments to assure they are allowed “safe passage” to Gaza.
Ordu explained that three drones had surveilled the vessel last night. He said he hoped tonight they can sleep “much more better” without any drones.
“Thank you for everyone,” he said. “Don’t forget us. We are sailing still.”
Don’t forget us’: Crew member gives update from Madleen
Turkish citizen Suayb Ordu has given a livestream update from the Madleen, calling on those watching to pressure their governments to assure they are allowed “safe passage” to Gaza.
Ordu explained that three drones had surveilled the vessel last night. He said he hoped tonight they can sleep “much more better” without any drones.
“Thank you for everyone,” he said. “Don’t forget us. We are sailing still.”
Israel will not allow ship to approach Gaza: Report
Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, reports that the Israeli security establishment has decided to block the Madleen aid ship from reaching the besieged enclave.
But it is unclear how Israeli forces will confront the ship.
In 2010, the Israeli military raided the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, which was carrying assistance for Palestinians, in international waters and killed 10 activists on board.
French leader voices support for European Parliament member on flotilla
Jean-Luc Melenchon, the leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise party, has lauded European Parliament member Rima Hassan for accompanying the activists on the Madleen aid ship, saying that what she is doing to break the siege on Gaza is “extremely useful”.
Melenchon spoke to Hassan via video feed on the channel Al Jazeera Mubasher.
The French politician, who came within a whisker of the run-off round for the 2022 French presidential elections, also criticised the European Union for its close ties to Israel.
He said the bloc has not honoured the accord that governs its relations with Israel — known as the Association Agreement — which calls for respecting human rights.
“In the face of the genocide in Gaza, the European Union has been and remains lamentable,” Melenchon said.
Greta Thunberg’s message to Palestinians
The climate advocate has told the TV programme Democracy Now! that she and her fellow activists are behind Palestinians every step of the way.
“We are standing in solidarity with you. We see you,” Thunberg said. “My deepest apologies on behalf of the outside world, especially the Western world, that we continue to betray you and that more people are not stepping up.”
“But I promise that, at least, we here will try our very best.”
Greta Thunberg responds to Lindsey Graham: ‘We can swim very well’
The climate activist has dismissed a comment from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who posted on social media that he hopes “Greta and her friends can swim”.
When asked about Graham’s remarks on the TV programme Democracy Now!, Thunberg quipped, “We can swim very well.”
Thunberg added that the comment “says a lot” about the priorities of politicians like Graham, who mock activists rather than ending their own “complicity in genocide and the mass slaughtering of civilians”.
US senator criticised for Greta Thunberg post
Advocacy groups have continued to condemn United States Senator Lindsey Graham, who posted a comment to social media that many interpreted as suggesting violence against the Madleen and Thunberg.
On the social media platform X on Monday, Graham wrote: “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!”
Past aid missions led by the Freedom Flotilla have faced bombing and armed attacks from Israeli forces.
Yesterday, the antiwar group CodePink went to Graham’s office in Washington, DC, to protest. Cofounder Medea Benjamin said the senator’s post showed “the level of depravity we’re dealing with” when opposing Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), meanwhile, described the post as “inhumane and reckless”.
The civil rights group additionally called on the Trump administration and members of Congress to “publicly support the safe passage of the Madleen and all humanitarian missions to Gaza, and to make clear that any attack on the vessel would be a violation of international law and human rights”.
If you’re just joining us
Here’s what we know so far:
- The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has called for international support after drones were spotted hovering above the ship. “It’s time for world governments to step up. Demand they protect their citizens on board the “Madleen” and stop enabling Israel’s war crimes. Safe passage is a legal obligation, and a moral one,” the FFC said in a post on X.
- The Madleen aid ship is sailing towards Gaza to break Israel’s illegal siege and deliver desperately needed aid to Palestinians. The US-backed aid organisation has suspended aid after Israel killed dozens of aid seekers.
- Climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined 11 other activists on the aid ship.
- The aid ship is carrying medical supplies, flour, rice, baby formula, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, crutches and children’s prosthetics.
- The Madleen departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1. It is expected to reach Gaza on June 7 provided there are no disruptions. It has been passing through international waters near Greece.
What has Israel said about the aid ship?
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it was ready to “protect” the country’s maritime space.
When asked about the Freedom Flotilla vessel, army spokesperson Defrin told AFP news agency, “for this case as well, we are prepared,” declining to go into detail.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said “it is enforcing the security maritime closure on Gaza and is preparing for a variety of scenarios,” without elaborating further, according to an Anadolu report.
‘It’s time for world governments to step up,’ says Gaza aid ship organiser
The crew on board the Madleen have called for international support after drones were spotted hovering above the ship.
In a post of X, formerly Twitter, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) wrote, “The volunteers aboard are delivering life-saving aid to Gaza. They are unarmed, carrying only food, medicine and baby formula, and acting fully within international law.
“It’s time for world governments to step up. Demand they protect their citizens aboard the ‘Madleen’ and stop enabling Israel’s war crimes. Safe passage is a legal obligation, and a moral one.”
What does international humanitarian and maritime law say about Israel’s naval blockade?
Gaza has been under a land, sea and air blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, resulting in shortages of basic items such as food and medicine, among others.
On March 2, Israel blocked the entry of all aid into the Palestinian enclave, devastated by nearly 19 months of relentless Israeli bombardment.
Israel maintains that its punishing naval blockade is for its security, as it has intercepted successive Freedom Flotillas delivering aid to Gaza, including the last aid ship, which it hit with a drone in international waters near Malta.
However, under the principle of freedom of the high seas, enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the high seas – which are beyond national jurisdiction – are open to all states and are not subject to any state’s sovereignty.
Furthermore, legal experts argue that Israel’s blockade violates international humanitarian law on several grounds:
- It contravenes the prohibition on blockades that cause or are intended to cause starvation among civilians;
- It constitutes collective punishment, which is forbidden during armed conflict;
- It breaches Israel’s duty as an occupying power to ensure the provision of adequate food and medical supplies to the population under occupation.
Freedom Flotilla’s decades-long attempt to break Israeli blockade of Gaza
The Madleen is not the first attempt by the Freedom Flotilla to deliver aid to Gaza.
On numerous occasions, the group has sought to break Israel’s blockade of the enclave, highlighting what activists call an illegal siege contributing to a widespread humanitarian crisis.
Despite repeated interceptions, including in 2011, 2015, and 2018, the flotillas have continued, carrying aid and international supporters to Gaza.
In 2010, activists boarded the Mavi Marmara ship in efforts to break the Israeli siege of Gaza. But Israel attacked the ship, killing nine activists, with another later dying of their wounds.
The most recent attempt by the Freedom Flotilla to reach Gaza ended with the bombing of its passenger ship Conscience by Israeli drones in early May.
According to organisers, the Conscience was hit by two strikes while sailing in international waters and still preparing for its voyage to Gaza.
Organisers say these missions aim to uphold international law and draw attention to what they describe as Israel’s illegal and genocidal blockade of Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, who was onboard the Mavi Marmara, wrote an article on the 10th anniversary of the deadly attack
Israel accused of causing hunger crisis in Gaza
The situation in Gaza is desperate. In late April, a UN-backed report warned that one in five people within the enclave faced starvation, with the entire Strip edging towards famine.
Today, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) suspended aid distribution after Israeli warplanes and artillery killed 27 desperate people trying to reach one of its distribution points.
Even before the Israeli government announced its latest blockade on food and aid entering the enclave on March 2, the situation was precarious.
After 15 months of near-continuous siege and bombardment, Israel finally allowed aid to enter the Strip during the short-lived ceasefire agreed on January 19 of this year. That lasted for six weeks, before Israel again imposed a total siege on Gaza.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper on Friday, Jens Laerke, a spokesperson with the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the territory was “the only defined area – a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred per cent of the population at risk of famine,” he said.
“Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth.”
US-backed GHF pauses food delivery as aid ship heading towards Gaza
As the aid ship heads towards Gaza amid a dire humanitarian crisis, an Israeli- and US-backed group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, paused food delivery at its three distribution sites in Gaza on Wednesday.
This came after Palestinian officials and aid groups accused Israel of killing dozens of Palestinians seeking aid at the designated centres.
For more, follow our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, here.
Photos: Madleen set sail on June 1 from Catania, Italy
Who is Madleen Culab, the inspiration behind the Freedom Flotilla ship?
The Madleen and its crew of 12 volunteers set sail from Catania, Sicily, on June 1, 2025, and are expected to arrive in Gaza in about seven days, if there are no interruptions.
The latest vessel to try and break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver desperately needed food and aid was named after Madleen Culab.
Al Jazeera visited Madleen and her family in May 2022. Here’s what we learned.
Who is Madleen?
The 29-year-old is Gaza’s only female fisher. She started learning to fish at the age of six, alongside her father, and has been heading out on her own since she was 12.
“I would go out to sea in the rowboat, and my father would wait for me on the beach. Then he got sick and couldn’t work any more, so I started fishing alone to support my family,” she told us.
What we know about the Greek surveillance drone tracking the Madleen
Accordion to FlightRadar, which tracks aircraft movements, an Israel-made Hellenic Coastguard drone (IAI Heron UAV) hovered over the Madleen ship. The drone’s deployment was confirmed by the Greek Ministry of Defence.
FlightRadar data showed that the drone embarked on a reconnaissance mission at 19:10 GMT on June 3 and remained airborne until 07:12 GMT. Geographical data analysis revealed that the drone conducted a mission within 8km (5 miles) of the Madleen.
In a statement shared on social media, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) stated, “At 11:12pm CEST+1, 68km away from Greek territorial waters, a drone began to hover above the ‘Madleen’. The drone is no longer there.”
‘Do not accept what is going on’ in Gaza: Greta Thunberg
Prominent Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who joined 11 other activists on an aid ship to deliver aid to Gaza, has said she had no choice but to help as “our governments are failing us.
“We have promised ourselves and we have promised the Palestinian people to do everything we can,” she said in a live show with Middle East Eye from international waters in the Mediterranean Sea.
“When our governments are failing us … then it falls on us to step up and be the adults in the room.”
Thunberg said “spirits are high” amid fears that the Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), might be attacked. Another Gaza aid ship organised by FFC was attacked with drones last month.
Thunberg, who was named Time’s Person of the Year in 2019 for her activism, said: “We cannot sit by and allow this to happen. We are watching … a genocide happening, following decades and decades of systematic oppression, ethnic cleansing, occupation.
“We are just human beings, very concerned about what’s happening, and do not accept what is going on.”
Where has the Gaza aid ship reached
Israel’s total siege of Gaza has prompted solidarity with Palestinians. An FFC aid ship has been sailing towards Gaza, aiming to deliver aid.
The ship has so far travelled 381 nautical miles (705.6km). Madleen was spotted an hour ago at approximately 70 nautical miles (130km) southwest of the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, according to MarineTraffic data.
The Madleen departed Sicily on Sunday, carrying a dozen people, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg, along with fruit juices, milk, tinned food and protein bars.
“Together, we can open a people’s sea corridor to Gaza,” FFC said in a statement.
Remembering the deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in 2010
Fifteen years ago, Israeli commandos carried out a deadly attack on Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in an aid flotilla carrying Turkish activists.
The so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla was carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid and had set out from Istanbul in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Nine humanitarian volunteers were killed on May 31, 2010.
Gaza has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007.
What has happened to previous flotillas?
Last month, another ship carrying aid to Gaza was hit by drones in international waters off Malta. The ship had been seeking to deliver aid following Israel’s blockade of the besieged enclave.
The FFC told Al Jazeera that the attack on the Conscience at 12:23pm (10:23 GMT) on May 2 blew a hole in the vessel and set the engine ablaze
Why is it called the Madleen?
The Madleen is named after Gaza’s first and only ever fisherwoman. She took over her father’s fishing business when he was injured in an Israeli attack in 2009.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement that the Madleen “symbolises the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resilience and the growing global resistance to Israel’s use of collective punishment and deliberate starvation policies”.
What is the Madleen Gaza flotilla?
The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), is en route to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights activists protesting against Israel’s illegal blockade of the Strip.
The vessel has set sail in response to Israel’s total aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of children due to starvation. More than 90 percent of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are facing acute food shortages, according to aid groups.
Madleen aims to deliver aid to Palestinians facing starvation due to Israeli siege
One in five Palestinians in Gaza is facing starvation because of Israel’s three-month total blockade of the Strip.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, 1.95 million people – 93 percent of the enclave’s population – are facing acute food shortages.
The IPC says Israel’s continued blockade “would likely result in further mass displacement within and across governorates”, as items essential for people’s survival will be depleted.
What aid is the ship carrying?
According to an FFC press release, the Madleen is carrying things urgently needed by people in Gaza, including medical supplies, flour, rice, baby formula, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, crutches, and children’s prosthetics.
Where have they reached so far?
The ship’s location is being monitored live by Forensic Architecture and using a Garmin live tracker on board.
Who is on board?
There are 12 activists on board the Madleen:
- Greta Thunberg – Swedish climate activist
- Rima Hassan – French Palestinian member of European Parliament
- Yasemin Acar – Germany
- Baptiste Andre – France
- Thiago Avila – Brazil
- Omar Faiad – France
- Pascal Maurieras – France
- Yanis Mhamdi – France
- Suayb Ordu – Turkiye
- Sergio Toribio – Spain
- Mark van Rennes – The Netherlands
- Reva Viard – France
For more read here.
Welcome to our live coverage
Hello, and thank you for joining us as we track the movement of Madleen flotilla sailing towards Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid amid Israel’s total blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2.
Follow this page for continuous updates and other details about the flotilla as it tries to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza.
You can read more about the flotilla here.
Follow our live page for continuous updates and analyses of the latest developments in Israel’s war on Gaza.