Seized Gaza Aid Ship Madleen Taken to Ashdod Port by Israeli Forces

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Madleen, an aid ship bound for Gaza, was illegally seized in international waters by Israeli forces and subsequently taken to Ashdod Port. The twelve international activists on board, including Greta Thunberg, are now facing detention and deportation.

As reported by Al Jazeera, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) stated that the ship was seized at approximately 4:02 AM local time on Monday, June 10, 2025.

The ship was stopped about 200 kilometers from Gaza and arrived in Ashdod on Monday night. The FFC launched the vessel to draw international attention to the looming famine in Gaza.

Previously, the coalition released a video from the ship, which had departed from Sicily. The video shows activists, among them climate activist Greta Thunberg and French Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, with their hands raised as Israeli forces boarded the ship and "kidnapped" them.

Adaleh, a Palestinian legal center representing the activists, indicated they are expected to be held in a detention facility before being deported.

The legal aid center asserted that Israel had "no legal authority" to seize the vessel, which was in international waters and heading not to Israel but to "the territorial waters of the State of Palestine."

The organization stated that the arrest of the 12 "unarmed activists" was a "serious violation of international law."

Huwaida Arraf, an FFC official, said there had been no contact with the activists since their detention in the early hours of Monday.

"We have lawyers on standby who are going to demand they have access to them tonight as soon as possible," she told Al Jazeera.

The Madleen, Arraf said, was sailing under the British flag when it was seized by Israeli commandos.

"So Israel went into international waters and attacked sovereign UK territory, which is blatantly unlawful. And we expect strong condemnation, which we have not yet heard from the United Kingdom," she stressed.

The UK government urged Israel to handle the detention of the activists "safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law."

"We have made clear our position in relation to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The PM has called it appalling and intolerable," a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, also commented: "Israel has absolutely no authority to intercept and stop a boat like this, which carries humanitarian aid, and more than everything else, humanity, to the people of Gaza."

Al Jazeera's Nour Odeh, reporting from the Jordanian capital Amman, said the activists would be charged with illegally entering Israel. "These activists had no intention to enter Israel. They wanted to reach the shores of Gaza, which are not part of Israel," she said.

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