[Section 2 | What]: briefly tell what happened on Madleen’s mission

Together, we sail! Madleen reignited global awareness
The Madleen action was part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s (FFC) 17-year-long effort to confront, challenge, and break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.

Amidst Israel’s ongoing genocide and total siege of Gaza, the Madleen, a tiny but mighty boat named in honor of the first Palestinian fisherwoman of Gaza, set sail from Catania, Sicily Italy, on June 1st to Gaza.

Our non-violent direct action posed no threat. Our boat and crew were unarmed, and the FFC operated in full compliance with international maritime law. Nevertheless, Israeli forces forcibly boarded and seized the Madleen roughly 100 nautical miles from Palestinian territorial waters, abducting all 12 civilians on board as well as the baby formula, food, medicine and crotches that were destined for Palestinians in Gaza, without providing any lawful justification.

The Madleen was sailing under the flag of the United Kingdom, which obligates the UK government to protect it from unlawful interference. Yet not only did the UK fail to act when the Madleen was violently intercepted by Israeli forces—it has remained silent ever since.

Our goal has always been to break Israel’s illegal siege. We act because institutions, media, corporations and government continue to remain silent, despite their resources, or profit from Israel’s escalating violence in Gaza and the wider region In that sense, this mission has succeeded in reigniting global awareness, hope, and imagination in the power of people-to-people solidarity and direct action.

We’re not stopping, and we invite the world to join us in our upcoming actions.

Keep scrolling to learn more about the Madleen.

[Section 3 | Context]: Full Aid Blockade and the Attack on Conscience

The attack on Conscience and the urgent need to deliver aid to Gaza

In the same month that Israel violated the ceasefire agreement on March 18, Israel also announced a total blockade on Gaza, halting every international effort to bring food, medicine, fuel, and essentials to starving Palestinians who had already been forced to endure a relentless genocide and ethnic cleansing for 20 months.

After attempting to sail to Gaza several times in 2024, the FFC organized an urgent action under a media blackout in the hopes of avoiding bureaucratic or violent sabotage. Tens of volunteers from over 21 countries arrived in Malta, along with humanitarian aid, ready to sail to Gaza aboard the Conscience.

In the early morning of May 2, hours before our volunteers were to board the vessel, the Conscience was attacked twice by drones while in international waters, only kilometres away from Malta. The drones caused a fire, a substantial breach in the hull, and injured four civilians aboard. Despite urgent SOS distress calls, Malta blocked the ship’s passage and continued to deny authorization to bring our ship and the civilians to safety for weeks. Flight tracking showed that an Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules flew toward Malta and in close proximity to the Conscience before and after the attacks. Some Israeli media reported that it was indeed an attack from Israel, and their government did not deny those claims. Despite this unprecedented terrorist attack on Europe, there was no official condemnation or support for an independent investigation from the European Union.

We have learned perseverance from our Palestinian comrades, and not a single Israeli violation has or will deter us from sailing to Gaza.

[Learn more about the Conscience] (links to the Conscience Mission’s page or just filtered articles)

[Section 4 | Timeline]: Break the siege: launch & preparations

Break the Siege: Launching Madleen towards Gaza

Between May 29th and June 1st, nearly one month after Israeli drone attack on the Conscience, the FFC gathered with local organizers and people from all around the globe to launch our next mission, the Madleen.

During the 3 days of the launch event, we have been greeted with loads of love, hope, and solidarity during our panel discussions, demonstrations, and press conferences. The people of the world had united the strength to carry the crossing for the next week.

[Section 5 | Timeline]: Madleen sails to Gaza

Crossing the Mediterranean

On June 1st, our 11 volunteers and 1 journalist sailed from Porto di San Giovanni li Cuti
, Catania, Sicily. Aboard with the world’s solidarity and aid to the Palestinian people, this brave vessel cut through the Mediterranean Sea to open the people’s corridor and break the Israeli’s illegal siege of Gaza.

Meet the Madleen 2025’s crew:

[Card template]

Thiago Avila 🇧🇷

Activist, environmentalist, and FFC volunteer

“A quote from Thiago”

[Click and the card will expand with a brief bio, photos, and links to his social media, click again to see less]

What did Madleen carry?

Vitor: I’m not sure about this one, but I thought of something visual like a card for baby formula, crotches, food, medicine, and world hope and solidarity, for example:]

[Section 6 | Timeline]: Mediterranean days

Six days of hope

Vitor: Here, I think it would be good to have a synthesis about the days onboard, talking about the tasks, their group experience, and maybe some quotes from each volunteer about how it was the experience

Six nights of terror

Vitor: Here, I suggest adding a detailed day-by-day usage of drones as a tool of psychological warfare. But we were prepared and kept our mission going

Rescue mission

Vitor: I’m not sure how much detail we can share about this, but we can briefly mention the immigrant violence and violations that are taking place in the Mediterranean Sea and link that to Madleen’s Declaration.

[Section 7 | Timeline]: The interception

[Section 8 | Timeline]: Prison and liberation

[Section 9 | Legacy] Madleen’s legacy and what to do next

Suggest use ‘action’ instead of ‘mission’