The Gaza flotilla is preparing for confrontation with IDF
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What you need to know as Greta Thunberg’s flotilla reaches Israeli water
Israeli officials have vowed not to allow the ship, called the Madleen, to dock. The country’s navy is reportedly preparing to rebuff the ship and, if necessary, arrest its passengers. The group is carrying supplies for Gazan Palestinians and protesting what they say is “Israel’s “illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in the enclave. The trip comes amid widespread criticism of Israel”s handling of aid to Gaza, where 2 million Palestinians live and where Israel has been fighting Hamas, the governing authority, since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel.“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” climate activist Greta Thunberg said during a press conference ahead of the voyage. “Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,’ she continued. � “And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
Israeli officials have vowed not to allow the ship, called the Madleen, to dock. The country’s navy is reportedly preparing to rebuff the ship and, if necessary, arrest its passengers.
The group is carrying supplies for Gazan Palestinians and protesting what they say is “Israel’s “illegal, decades-long blockade, and ongoing genocide” in the enclave.
Their voyage is operated by the pro-Palestinian nonprofit Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which has staged other naval efforts to reach Gaza by sea over the last 15 years. The latest trip, which departed from Sicily and detoured to pick up Sudanese refugees, comes as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza turns 20 months old and includes Thunberg, one of the most prominent progressive activists in the world.
Here’s what you need to know in advance of a possible showdown on the high seas.
A drone view shows the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen, organized by the international NGO Freedom Flotilla Coalition, anchored off the coast of Catania, Italy, on June 1, 2025 (credit: REUTERS/DANILO ARNONE) Why have the activists undertaken their voyage and what are people saying about them? The trip comes amid widespread criticism of Israel’s handling of aid to Gaza, where 2 million Palestinians live and where Israel has been fighting Hamas, the governing authority, since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel. The trip comes amid widespread criticism of Israel’s handling of aid to Gaza, where 2 million Palestinians live and where Israel has been fighting Hamas, the governing authority, since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked southern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered “basic aid” to enter Gaza last month amid growing concerns about starvation following Israel’s months-long aid blockade. Since Netanyahu’s announcement, aid distribution in Gaza has since faced multiple setbacks, including deadly shootings at aid distribution sites.
According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Madleen is carrying baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches and children’s prosthetics.
🚨 ACTION ALERT: The UK MUST protect ‘Madleen’ 🚨 The ‘Madleen’ is a UK-flagged civilian ship sailing to Gaza with life-saving aid as part of the #FreedomFlotilla. The UK has a legal duty to protect its vessel and the civilians aboard from Israeli interference. 🇬🇧 Under… pic.twitter.com/WaODYGnlyE— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) June 6, 2025
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Thunberg said during a press conference ahead of the voyage.
“Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” she continued. “And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
London has so far rejected requests by Israel to deter the Madleen, which is flying under a UK flag, from approaching Israeli waters, according to the Times of Israel. Last month, the leaders of France and the United Kingdom issued statements condemning Israel’s blockade on aid to Gaza and continued offensive and vowing to take “concrete actions” if they continue.
The group has drawn support from pro-Palestinian advocates around the world. The human rights group Amnesty International, for example, called the voyage “an important solidarity initiative that will help to keep the spotlight on Israel’s illegal and suffocating blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip amidst its ongoing genocide.”
But critics of the group have pilloried them for engaging in performative activism that is unlikely to achieve any results for Palestinian civilians. An Israeli official reportedly referred to the Madleen as the “selfie flotilla,” for example. It has also added to concerns over whether Thunberg’s increasing focus on Israel is distracting from her leadership on climate change.
Thunberg has sparred with her critics. After Sen. Lindsay Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, tweeted, “Hope Greta and her friends can swim!” Thunberg said on the progressive radio show Democracy Now, “We can swim very well.”
What is the Freedom Flotilla Coalition? Following two successful independent voyages that reached Gaza in 2008, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was founded in 2010 to protest Israel’s blockade of Gaza. It operates a small fleet of ships that have tried — but rarely if ever succeeded — to bring aid and supplies by sea to the Gaza Strip.
In the group’s first mission, in 2010, a Turkish flotilla ship called the Mavi Marmara was raided by the Israeli military during an aid mission, and nine people on board were killed.
Subsequent efforts in past years were intercepted, and their passengers were detained and deported.
Last month, one of the ships in the group’s fleet, the Conscience, was hit by two alleged drones just outside of Malta’s territorial waters. The group accused Israel of perpetrating the attacks. Israel has declined to comment.
An Israeli cargo aircraft reportedly flew at a relatively low altitude over eastern Malta several hours before the reported attack, according to flight data reviewed by CNN. The IDF declined to comment to CNN about the flight data.
Thunberg told USA Today that she was supposed to be on the Conscience voyage but had stayed behind.
Who is on board the Madleen? Including Thunberg, there are 12 activists and journalists on board the Madleen, which is named for what the group says is Gaza’s only female professional fisherwoman. Among them is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. Hassan is of Palestinian descent and was barred from entering Israel in February due to her active opposition to the conflict in Gaza and support for the BDS movement.
Others on board the Madleen come from at least half a dozen countries, according to a press release from the FFC. They include:
Yasemin Acar, a German pro-Palestinian activist.
Baptiste Andre, a physician from France.
Thiago Avila, an activist from Brazil.
Omar Faiad, an Al Jazeera correspondent.
Pascal Maurieras, a French activist.
Yanis Mhamdi, a journalist-director at Blast, a French independent media outlet.
Şuayb Ordu, a Turkish activist.
Reva Viard, an activist from France.
Sergio Toribio, a crew member from Spain.
Marco Van Rennes, a crew member from the Netherlands.
“Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham was among the crowd of spectators who gathered in solidarity with the crew of the Madleen to bid them farewell in Catania, Sicily.
“Governments are not standing up for what their legal obligations are under international law, so it takes a disparate group like this to try and achieve it,” said Cunningham in a post on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s Instagram account. “Anybody who was fearful of using the word genocide, that’s gone now.”
What could happen over the weekend? If it is not intercepted, the Madleen could reach Gaza sometime over the weekend, according to a post on X early Friday morning by the International Committee to Break the Siege, which was reposted by FFC.
“We’re on our way to Gaza — expected to arrive in about 48 hours,” the post read. “These next hours are critical. Your voice is our protection. Let apartheid Israel know: the world is watching. Your silence gives them cover. Don’t stay silent.”
But the IDF has said it does not intend to allow the ship to dock.
The Jerusalem Post reported that military officials said the ship will be warned not to enter the area, and if they defy orders, the IDF may take over the ship and arrest them. The protesters would then be transferred to the Ashdod port and deported, according to officials.
The Gaza flotilla is preparing for confrontation with IDF
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is one of 12 pro-Palestinian activists on board the ship Madleen. The group claims to have sailed past Egypt and expect to reach Gaza’s shores by Monday — unless intercepted by the Israeli military. Bild newspaper suggests that s everal on board promote a radical anti-Western ideology, support terror groups, and advocate for the elimination of the State of Israel. The 12 activists include Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament who has been banned from entering Israel; Omar Faiad, a journalist for Qatari outlet Al Jazeera; Yasemin Acar, who filmed herself dancing during Iran’s missile barrage against Israel; and Thiago Avila, who attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon. The ship is expected to arrive in Gaza on June 7.
Thunberg departed from Sicily on June 1 alongside 11 pro-Palestinian activists, aiming to reach Gaza by June 7. Although that date has passed, the group now claims they have sailed past Egypt and expect to reach Gaza’s shores by Monday — unless intercepted by the Israeli military. While the group publicly presents itself as a humanitarian mission delivering essential supplies to Gaza, a report in Germany’s Bild newspaper suggests that s everal on board promote a radical anti-Western ideology, support terror groups, and advocate for the elimination of the State of Israel.
“What brought me on this boat?” Thunberg told The Times, before answering: “Just being human, seeing the footage from Gaza, hearing the reports and feeling that I need to do something, whatever that is,” Thunberg said. “And for some reason I have a platform, and if I can use that platform, for example, being on this boat and amplifying the Palestinian cause, then of course I have to do that. Because I care about justice and because … I cannot just sit around and watch this genocide happening without doing something.”
“You cannot be a climate justice activist if you are ignoring all the marginalized people today and their suffering,” she said. “Both the climate crisis, the genocide in Palestine and other humanitarian crises all over the world are results of systems that sacrifice the vast majority of people and … the planet just for a very fortunate few to be able to make profit and to profit out of that exploitation and to be able to keep their geopolitical power at all costs. So I see many parallels. What is happening in Palestine is not only a genocide but also an ecocide.”
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Thunberg was quick to deny any antisemitic intent, asserting that she condemns antisemitism. “Every day since I was 15 I have received criticism from every possible angle, no matter what I do. If they can’t find anything, they make something up, for example like antisemitism accusations,” she said, adding: “We are saying that no one should be valued more or less than anyone else because of their background. And that applies to everything, also to the Palestinian cause.”
However, Thunberg has yet to condemn the Hamas-led massacre of Israelis on October 7, nor has she acknowledged the victims and hostages taken during the attack.
2 View gallery Swedish activist Greta Thurnberg on board the Gaza flotilla ship ( Photo: Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images )
The 12 activists on board portray a humanitarian mission, but beyond Thunberg, the group includes Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament who has been banned from entering Israel; Omar Faiad, a journalist for Qatari outlet Al Jazeera; Yasemin Acar, who filmed herself dancing during Iran’s missile barrage against Israel; and Thiago Avila, who attended the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.
Reva Viard, one of the French activists on board, told The Times: “The more time passes, the closer we get to the point of tension — but the more time passes, the more the international community mobilizes. So we’re all calm on board, and hope grows as we move forward. So the possibility that the Israeli army will attack or board the Madleen obviously exists … but there are also other boats that have reached Palestine. So we’re banking on this scenario more than any other.”
Israel calling up tens of thousands of reservists to expand war on Gaza
Move comes despite global outrage over humanitarian blockade and calls to reach lasting ceasefire. Israel ending the fragile ceasefire, which saw Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli captives, on March 18 has not led to any more releases. humanitarian groups, including the Red Cross, have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of “total collapse” and Palestinians face a “daily struggle to survive” amid bombardment and the crippling blockade. Netanyahu promised to respond to Yemen’s Houthis after the rebels fired a missile that struck a road at Ben Gurion International Airport, wounding six people and prompting several major airlines to suspend flights. Netanyahu said the response will take place “at a time and place of our choosing”
The Israeli military will call up tens of thousands of reservists to expand the country’s assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, army chief Eyal Zamir says.
He made the announcement on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue the war despite growing calls from inside Israel for a deal that would bring home Israeli captives held in Gaza and end the war, which has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians.
“This week, we are sending tens of thousands of draft orders to our reserve personnel to intensify and expand our action in Gaza. We are increasing the pressure to return our people [held captive in Gaza] and defeat Hamas,” Zamir said, adding that the Israeli military would “operate in additional areas and destroy all of [Hamas’s] infrastructure above and below ground”.
The military chief made the announcement during a visit to the Atlit naval base on Israel’s northern Mediterranean coast.
The announcement came before a Netanyahu-chaired security cabinet meeting to discuss an expansion of the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023 and has decimated the Palestinian enclave.
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A growing movement within Israel has called for an end to the war, and an increasing number of reservists are ignoring call-ups.
Two government officials told the Reuters news agency that the cabinet would also discuss the possible resumption of aid to Gaza as humanitarian groups warn of increased starvation in the territory since Israel imposed a total blockade on March 2.
Israel continues to face widespread global outrage over the conduct of its war in Gaza, which has shattered the territory’s infrastructure as well as its healthcare system and displaced the vast majority of its 2.3 million residents at least once since the war began.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, said he wanted to see a “powerful” expansion of the war but did not disclose details as to what new plans might entail.
“We need to increase the intensity and continue until we achieve total victory. We must win a total victory,” he said. He demanded that Israel bomb “the food and electricity supplies” in Gaza.
Leading humanitarian groups, including the Red Cross, have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of “total collapse” and Palestinians face a “daily struggle to survive” amid bombardment and the crippling blockade.
United Nations agencies have said truck convoys carrying aid are building up at the border and have not been allowed into the enclave, where a famine is looming.
Israeli officials claim an expanded military offensive would pressure Hamas into releasing the 59 remaining captives, but critics argue it further endangers their lives. Israel ending the fragile ceasefire, which saw Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Israeli captives, on March 18 has not led to any more releases.
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The reserve call-ups are going out as Netanyahu promised to respond to Yemen’s Houthis after the rebels fired a missile that struck a road at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport, wounding six people and prompting several major airlines to suspend flights.
Netanyahu said the response will take place “at a time and place of our choosing”.
The Houthis have said their fighters carried out the assault “in support of the oppressed Palestinian people” and to counter Israel’s “crime of genocide” in Gaza.
Greta Thunberg’s Gaza siege-busting yacht ‘will be met with Israeli missile boats and elite commando unit if it tries to deliver aid or ‘provokes’ the IDF’ – as ‘freedom flotilla’ crosses Med
Greta Thunberg, 22, is among 12 activists hoping to ‘break Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip’ with a delivery of humanitarian aid. She is joined by Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French MEP. The flotilla is expected to reach Gaza on Saturday, having set off from Catania in Sicily last Sunday. Israel has threatened to stop the Madleen if it approaches the beleaguered Gaza Strip. IDF has not yet decided how to handle the vessel, but has begun deploying security forces in the area. The activists have already raised concern for their safety, noting a drone attack on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship off the coast of Malta in May. Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza on March 2, and limited aid began to enter again late last month after pressure from allies and warnings of famine. Gaza is almost completely reliant on international aid because Israel’s offensive has destroyed nearly all of its food supplies. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an anti-Semitic ‘blood libel’
Military sources told the Jerusalem Post that Shayetet 13, a commando unit of the Navy, and the fleet are preparing for the arrival of the Madleen in the coming days.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg, 22, is among 12 activists on board the ship, hoping to ‘break [Israel’s] siege on the Gaza Strip’ with a delivery of humanitarian aid.
She is joined by Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French MEP, aiming to raise awareness of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The flotilla is expected to reach Gaza on Saturday, having set off from Catania in Sicily last Sunday.
The IDF has not yet decided how to handle the vessel, but has begun deploying security forces in the area, according to the Jerusalem Post.
A senior Israeli defence source told the outlet that Israel will not allow the ship to enter Gaza, and that the activists face arrest if they disobey the military.
Military sources said the activists will be told clearly not to enter the area, and that the elite forces are preparing for the eventuality they defy the order or ‘provoke’ the IDF.
The IDF may take control of the vessel, arrest the protestors and transfer them to the port in Ashdod to be deported, the outlet reports.
Greta Thunberg joins 11 activists in sailing to the Gaza Strip with a ‘symbolic’ amount of aid
Israel has threatened to stop the Madleen if it approaches the beleaguered Gaza Strip
FILE PHOTO: Shayetet 13, IDF’s elite naval commando unit
The Israeli Army said previously that it is ‘prepared’ to raid the ship, as it has done with previous freedom flotilla efforts.
‘For this case as well, we are prepared,’ IDF spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said. ‘We have gained experience in recent years, and we will act accordingly.’
The activists have already raised concern for their safety, noting a drone attack on a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship off the coast of Malta in May.
Thunberg’s shipmate issued a drone alert on the ‘third day of our journey to Gaza to break the siege’.
An Israeli drone operated by Greece’s Hellenic Coastguard reportedly followed the Madleen, hovering above it for two consecutive nights on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Heron drone, developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), is capable of carrying payloads up to 1,000kg and flying for 52 continuous hours.
The Madleen, still crossing the Mediterranean east towards Gaza, reportedly changed course this morning to respond to a migrant distress call.
Sources told Al Jazeera the ship had detected a migrant boat, estimated to be carrying around 40 asylum seekers.
FILE PHOTO: An Israeli navy ship patrols off Zikim beach in southwestern Israel near the border with Gaza, March 29, 2024
Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen a day after setting off from Catania
The IDF has not yet decided how to handle the vessel, JPost reports, but has begun deploying security forces in the area
People watch as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on May 25, 2025
Ahead of their departure on Sunday, Thunberg said: ‘We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying’.
‘Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide,’ she added.
Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an anti-Semitic ‘blood libel’.
Fellow activist Thiago Avila said: ‘We are breaking the siege of Gaza by sea, but that’s part of a broader strategy of mobilizations that will also attempt to break the siege by land.’
Avila cited the upcoming Global March to Gaza – an international initiative also open to doctors, lawyers and media – which is set to leave Egypt and reach the Rafah crossing in mid-June to stage a protest there, asking Israel to stop the Gaza offensive and reopen the border.
Israel imposed a blockade on supplies into Gaza on March 2, and limited aid began to enter again late last month after pressure from allies and warnings of famine.
Food security experts one in five people in Gaza now face starvation after Israel enacted its blockade.
Gaza is almost completely reliant on international aid because Israel’s offensive has destroyed nearly all food production capabilities.
Zakariya al-Majdoub, an 11-month-old baby born in Khan Yunis during Israeli attacks on Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition in Gaza on June 3, 2025
Rihan Sharab, a Palestinian mother, tries to keep the joy of Eid alive with her handcrafted toys by distributing them to children in the Mewasi camp while Israeli attacks continue in Khan Yunis, Gaza on June 4, 2025
Smoke billows from the site following an Israeli airstrike targeting the home of the Harb family at Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, June 1
Israeli tanks are positioned along the border with the Gaza Strip on June 5, 2025
In April, ActionAid reported that the price of flour in Gaza had soared to $300 a bag after more than 50 days without new aid deliveries.
Most people are now surviving on a single meal per day, consisting mostly of pasta, rice or canned food, it reported.
More than 3,700 children were newly admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in March alone, it said, an 80 per cent rise on the previous month, per UNOCHA.
UN Security Council members criticised the US on Wednesday after it vetoed a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, which Washington said undermined ongoing diplomacy.
It was the 15-member body’s first vote on the situation since November, when the United States – a key Israeli ally – also blocked a text calling for an end to fighting.
The draft resolution had demanded ‘an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza respected by all parties.’
It also called for the ‘immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups,’ and demanded the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
But Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement after Wednesday’s 14 to 1 vote: ‘Today, the United States sent a strong message by vetoing a counterproductive UN Security Council resolution on Gaza targeting Israel.’
‘The United States will continue to stand with Israel at the UN,’ he said.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and abducting 251.
They are still holding 58 hostages, a third of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Ominous Warning From Israel as Freedom Flotilla Approaches Gaza
Palestinian rights advocates aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla issued a distress signal Wednesday. They said drones “repeatedly” hovered over the ship as it carried humanitarian aid for starving people in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces suggested the IDF may confront the vessel, called the Madleen, as it approaches Gaza with food, baby formula, and medicines. The IDF’s killing of nine Turkish people who were on a flotilla headed for Gaza in 2010, aiming to break Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid in the enclave, brought to mind the ominous remark. The Madleen had traveled 381 nautical miles since leaving Sicily over the weekend, and has drawn international attention.
The distress call from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition came as a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces suggested the IDF may confront the vessel, called the Madleen, as it approaches Gaza with food, baby formula, and medicines.
“For this case as well, we are prepared,” said Brigadier General Effie Edfrin. “We have gained experience in recent years.”
The ominous remark brought to mind the IDF’s killing of nine Turkish people who were on a flotilla headed for Gaza in 2010, aiming to break Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid in the enclave.
Another boat, the Conscience, was struck by drones in early May.
The Madleen had traveled 381 nautical miles since leaving Sicily over the weekend, and has drawn international attention—including a threat from U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.)—partially because climate activist Greta Thunberg is aboard the vessel.
“No matter how dangerous this mission is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world.”
“We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity,” Thunberg told reporters before departing. “No matter how dangerous this mission is, it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world.”
Israel imposed a total blockade on humanitarian aid in March just before ending a temporary cease-fire; it began letting in a tiny amount of relief in May under international pressure—but only a fraction of the 500 aid trucks that entered the enclave on a daily basis have been permitted into Gaza in recent weeks.
In the past week, the IDF has also killed dozens of Palestinians and injured hundreds as they approached food distribution hubs set up by the Israel- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
The 80-day total blockade pushed the entire population of Gaza closer to famine, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.
United Nations experts on Monday called on Israel not to interfere with the Madleen.
“Aid is desperately needed for the people of Gaza to forestall annihilation, and this initiative is a symbolic and powerful effort to deliver it. Israel should remember that the world is watching closely and refrain from any act of hostility against the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and its passengers,” the experts said.
“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 added. “Israel must not interfere with its freedom of navigation, long recognized under international law.”