FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Hay Sha Wiya, FFC Press Officer
WhatsApp: +1 210-834-8155
Submit interview requests here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7r5Wy2glAJI8gLV5dtsjcoIhIy9bheJ9CR_nOt1hFOZU-kg/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=100716123373783889502
Media Available for Use with Credit:
https://drive.proton.me/urls/CDYKESS7SC#ab0CGGgdRpYg
Approximately 24 hours after contact was lost with our colleagues aboard the Madleen, lawyers from Adalah (the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) were able to meet with 10 of the 12 abducted. Two of the 12 – Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera, is represented separately through legal counsel arranged by the network and Yanis Mhamdi, a journalist from France, is represented by private counsel.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) confirms that four of the 12 have been deported and eight remain in Israeli detention:
1. Baptiste Andre (France) – Deported
2. Greta Thunberg (Sweden) – Deported
3. Sergio Toribio (Spain) – Deported
4. Suayb Ordu (Turkey) – Detained
5. Mark van Rennes (The Netherlands) – Detained
6. Pascal Maurieras (France) – Detained
7. Reva Viard (France) – Detained
8. Rima Hassan (France) – Detained
9. Thiago Avila (Brazil) – Detained
10. Yanis Mhamdi (France) – Detained
11. Yasemin Acar (Germany) – Detained
12. Omar Faiad (France) – Deported
Israel is handling the custody of all 12 as though they had entered illegally—even though they were forcibly abducted from international waters and brought into Israel against their will.
Each of the volunteers was given two options: sign documents consenting to deportation, or remain in detention and appear before a tribunal. The FFC had encouraged some volunteers, if given the option, to agree to expedited deportation in order to restore access to communication—including the ability to speak freely and advocate for their fellow participants. All of them explicitly disputed the claim of unlawful entry in writing, affirming that Israeli law does not apply to them, that their mission was humanitarian in nature, and that both the boat’s interception and their detention are illegal.
Those who did not consent to leave remain in detention and will appear before a tribunal. Legal counsel will argue that the interception was unlawful, the detentions arbitrary, and that the volunteers must be released without deportation. The legal team will continue to demand that the volunteers be allowed to return to the Madleen and resume their lawful mission to Gaza. However, we know all too well that there is no justice to be found in Israel’s legal system, which functions primarily to legitimize and entrench colonization, occupation, and apartheid. The tribunal will ultimately order their forced expulsion.
The FFC stands with the Madleen 12. Their detention is unlawful, politically motivated, and a direct violation of international law. The persecution of humanitarian action and the silencing of resistance will not succeed.
The FFC acknowledges that by virtue of their passports of privilege, the Madleen 12 are shielded from the daily brutality and horrendous systemic torture Palestinians endure under Israeli occupation. According to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, as of June 4, 2025, there are over 10,400 Palestinians held captive in Israeli dungeons. Of those, more than 400 are children and more than 3,500 are held without trial, charge, or minimal due process.