Israel’s interception of Gaza aid ship ‘violation of international law’: Amnesty

Human rights group Amnesty International today denounced Israel’s interception of an aid ship attempting to break Tel Aviv’s siege on Gaza as a “violation of international law.”

“Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seeking to bring humanitarian aid in an attempt to breach Israel’s illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip. It was carrying unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission,” Amnesty Secretary General, Agnes Callamard, said on X.

“Israel’s interception of Madleen violates international law,” she said.

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#Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seeking to bring humanitarian aid in an attempt to breach Israel’s illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip. It was carrying unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission.

Israel interception of Madleen violates… pic.twitter.com/h5QvMeYVqk

— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) June 9, 2025

p dir=”ltr”>The British-flagged boat aimed to break a crippling blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza, where nearly 55,000 Palestinians have been killed in a brutal onslaught since October 2023.

Carrying an amount of aid, including food and baby formula, the ship was boarded by Israeli occupation forces during the night before it could reach the Gaza shore and was towed to Ashdod Port in Israel.

Callamard said Israel, as an occupying power, has a legal obligation to ensure civilians in Gaza have sufficient food and medicine.

“They should have let Madleen deliver its humanitarian supplies to Gaza,” she said.

“In line with its obligations as the occupying power, and the legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice to prevent genocide, Israel must immediately lift its illegal blockade of Gaza, facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and allow international fact-finding missions into Gaza.”

The London-based rights group called on the US “to do far more than they have done to this date” to end the Israeli war and blockade on Gaza.

“There is an ongoing genocide. Military occupation. Apartheid. Palestinians in Gaza are starved. Humanitarian workers are targeted. Humanitarian aid is blocked,” Callamard said.

Earlier, Israeli soldiers kidnapped 12 unarmed activists on board the Madleen, including one journalist, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international NGO, which organised the mission, said.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition sent the 18-metre Madleen from Catania, Sicily, Italy, to break the blockade in Gaza and deliver aid.

A total of 12 people are on board, including 11 activists and one journalist.

Among them are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, Yasemin Acar from Germany, Baptiste Andre, Pascal Maurieras, Yanis Mhamdi and Reva Viard from France, Thiago Avila from Brazil, Suayb Ordu from Turkiye, Sergio Toribio from Spain, Marco van Rennes from the Netherlands and Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera Mubasher, also from France.

The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics, according to its organisers.