“Preparing for any scenario” is how international volunteers aboard the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s vessel Madleen have described their first days sailing toward Gaza. On Sunday, June 1, the ship departed from the Italian port of Catania carrying 12 people and essential supplies, including baby formula, diapers, and medical prosthetics – fully aware of the very real risk of violence by Israeli occupation forces.
The Madleen’s crew includes climate justice activist Greta Thunberg and MEP Rima Hassan, alongside volunteers from Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Türkiye. “I am aboard Madleen because silence is not neutrality – it is complicity,” Hassan said on the day of departure. “The Palestinian people in Gaza are being starved and slaughtered, and the world watches. This ship is not just carrying aid, it is carrying a demand: end the blockade. End the genocide.”
Read more: Will the Freedom Flotilla sail to Gaza?
By attempting to reach Gaza, where the entire population is facing starvation after Israel blocked humanitarian deliveries for more than two months, the activists are calling on the public to take action against the genocide and urging governments to ensure the ship’s safe passage. Yet, as they explained in a report on the second day of their journey, they have limited expectations from governments, especially in Europe, which have repeatedly demonstrated unwillingness to break with complicity in Israel’s crimes.
Instead, the crew has appealed to the media for extensive and accurate coverage, which they hope could offer some protection from interference. To support this, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is providing daily live updates and location tracking from the ship, urging supporters of the Palestinian cause to share this material widely.
Israeli authorities have already signaled they will act once the ship nears Gaza. Military radio reports suggest that the Israeli navy is preparing for the ship’s arrival. “The army says it is ready for a wide range of scenarios, which would be implemented in accordance with political instructions,” the Madleen’s crew warned on social media on June 3.
In this context, “political instructions” refers to those sanctioned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of war crimes. “We know how Netanyahu and his far-right regime treat the voices of solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the crew stated.
UN experts: Madleen has right to free passage
A group of United Nations experts recently warned that any attempt by Israeli forces to block the Madleen would violate long-recognized international law practice. “The people of Gaza have the right to receive aid through their own territorial waters even under occupation, and the Coalition ship has the right to free passage in international waters to reach the people of Gaza,” they wrote. “As the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s ship approaches Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, Israel must adhere to international law and comply with orders from the International Court of Justice to ensure unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.”
Despite these expert opinions, tangible risks remain that Israel will ignore international law, as it has done on a daily basis even before it began to carry out the genocide in the Gaza Strip. Previous Freedom Flotilla missions have been met with repression, and concerns have been raised that the Madleen may be targeted, as was the Conscience, another flotilla vessel hit by drones in early May. The Coalition emphasized that the decision to launch Madleen so soon after the attack on Conscience reflects “both the urgency and the danger of this mission to break the siege on Gaza.”
Read more: “Freedom Flotilla” attacked by drone in international waters on its way to deliver aid amid Gaza blockade
Several public figures voiced support for the mission and joined the send-off in Italy. Among them was actor Liam Cunningham, who emphasized that Freedom Flotilla’s missions are necessary in the face of global inaction. “We’re sick of words. We’re sick of weasel words,” Cunningham said. “We’re sick of appeasement with people saying ‘Oh, we’re going to think about sanctioning,’ ‘We’re going to stop a trade deal.’ Not enough. The words are not enough. Action is required.”
“The siege on Gaza is maintained not just by Israeli firepower, but by global inaction,” the Freedom Flotilla wrote ahead of the Madleen’s departure. “Despite the risks, we believe that direct, civil resistance still matters – that active solidarity can shift the moral compass of the world. That is why Madleen sails.”
