FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: June 4, 2025
Contact: Hay Sha Wiya
WhatsApp: +1 210-834-8155
Media Available for Use with Credit:
https://drive.proton.me/urls/CDYKESS7SC#ab0CGGgdRpYg
Madleen Tracker :
https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/
June 4, 2025, Mediterranean Sea – The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) strongly condemns Israel’s declared intent to attack Madleen, our civilian vessel currently sailing from Catania, Sicily toward Gaza. Madleen carries humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct challenge to Israel’s illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide.
Last night at 11:12 p.m. local time, while approximately 80 nautical miles south of Crete, Greece, the Madleen was approached and circled by a drone—followed, several hours later, by two additional drones. We were later informed that these were surveillance drones operated by the Hellenic Coast Guard and/or Frontex. While they did not pose a direct threat to life—unlike the Israeli drone that bombed our ship Conscience in Malta last month—their presence appeared intended to surveil and intimidate. Despite repeated inquiries from the Madleen, the Hellenic Coast Guard declined to confirm the identity of the drones or respond to the ship’s request for assistance, even though Greece was the nearest harbor. These actions raise serious concerns about whether Greece and/or the European Union is conducting surveillance on behalf of Israel, or intends to share intelligence that could facilitate another unlawful attack.
On Monday, June 2, 2025, UN human rights experts called on the international community to “ensure the safe passage of the Freedom Flotilla ship Madleen to Gaza.” They warned that any attempt to block the ship would violate international law, stressing that the catastrophe in Gaza is “man-made and can be stopped immediately.”
“Israel has no legal authority to control or enforce a maritime closure on Gaza and, therefore, no lawful basis to intercept the Madleen,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla Steering Committee member. “Such an act would constitute a blatant violation of international maritime law and a direct defiance of the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza. Any attempt to seize the ship or its passengers would be unlawful, arbitrary, and must be universally condemned.” The involvement of Greek surveillance drones raises serious concerns that Greece may be cooperating with Israel in a way that facilitates or enables illegal acts—potentially implicating Greece in violations of international law.”
“The Madleen is not only carrying aid. It is carrying the will of people around the world to break the siege, to end the genocide, and to stand with Palestinians in Gaza,” said Thiago Avila, FFC Steering Committee member on board Madleen “This voyage is a line of solidarity drawn across the sea,”
“While we anxiously watched drones tracking the Madleen through the night, we also witnessed apocalyptic scenes at Gaza’s port and the mass-casualty bombing of people sheltering in displacement tents,” said Yasemin Acar, another FFC Steering Committee member on board. “We call on people of conscience, institutions, and governments to take action now: demand that Israel refrain from attacking the Madleen and defend life and dignity in Gaza.”
Israel’s threat to attack the Madleen comes amid its ongoing genocide across Gaza—obliterating neighborhoods, bombing hospitals and bakeries, and starving and massacring Palestinians. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice found that Israel’s actions plausibly amount to genocide and ordered it to prevent such acts by, among other things, facilitating the entry and distribution of aid. Yet Israel continues to defy the court—attacking convoys, blocking assistance, and now targeting a peaceful civilian vessel acting lawfully. This pattern is mirrored in the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a militarized U.S.-Israel project designed to dismantle independent relief efforts and replace them with tightly controlled mechanisms that advance its plans to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza, by using food as bait. The world cannot be silent. Justice demands intervention now.