TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Israeli military forces raided the Handala ship en route to Gaza on Saturday, July 27, 2025. The attack took place in international waters, approximately 40 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza. The ship is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition humanitarian mission that aims to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
According to Anadolu, on Friday morning, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced that Handala was continuing its mission and was less than 349 nautical miles or approximately 646 kilometers away from Gaza. However, contact with the ship was lost for two hours, during which a drone was seen around the ship. "For about two hours, our Freedom Flotilla boat’s communications were interrupted, and drones were observed near the boat, raising serious concerns of a potential attack," the coalition wrote on Telegram.
According to the official statement of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the raid occurred at 23:43 Palestinian time. At that time, the ship's cameras were forcibly shut off, and all communication was severed. "The Occupation cut the cameras on board Handala, and we have lost all communication with our ship," they wrote.
The Handala ship carried urgent aid for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, diapers, food, and medicine. All the cargo was civilian and contained no military elements. The Freedom Flotilla stated that the raid violated international maritime law as it took place outside Palestinian territorial waters.
21 Activists from 12 Countries
A total of 21 activists were on board the Handala ship, representing 12 countries and comprising human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, parliamentarians, workers, and scientists. Some of them include: Christian Smalls (US), Huwaida Arraf (Palestine/US), Emma Fourreau (France/Sweden), Gabrielle Cathala (France), Antonio Mazzeo (Italy), Santiago Gonzlez Vallejo (Spain), Robert Martin (Australia), and Mohamed El Bakkali (Morocco), a senior Al Jazeera journalist.
According to the Freedom Flotilla, before the raid occurred, the ship's crew had declared that they would go on a hunger strike if detained and would not accept food from Israeli forces.
Third Attack in One Year
The raid on Handala marks the third attack on the Freedom Flotilla aid ships this year. On May 2, the MV Conscience was attacked by a drone in international waters near Malta, causing a fire and injuring four people.
On June 9, Israel seized the Madleen ship off the coast of Gaza and arrested 12 international activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan. They were later deported with the condition of not returning to Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition criticized Israel for disregarding the binding orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza. "Israel has no legal authority to detain international civilians aboard the Handala," said Ann Wright, a member of the Freedom Flotilla steering committee.
She also stated that this case is not within the internal jurisdiction of Israel because the passengers are foreign nationals operating under international law in international waters, so their detention is considered arbitrary, violates the law, and must be stopped immediately.
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