On Monday, Sweden seemed to distance himself from Gaza Madleen’s help ship, who was carrying Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, as Amnesty International requested the release of boat activists from Israeli custody.
The yacht with British British Madleen, operated by the Freedom Flotilla coalition, had separated from Sicily on June 1 and hoped to get to Gaza later on Sunday, when the interception occurred, said the group on his Telegram account.
Among the ship’s aboard are Thunberg and Rima Hassan, French member of the European Parliament. The yacht carries a small shipment of humanitarian aid, including the rice and baby formula.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Steargard, addressed the status of the 12 activists who illegally took Israeli custody, emphasizing that the Sweden government advised for a long time against trips to Gaza and activists carried out “clear personal responsibility.”
“The current government evaluation is that activists are not in danger and there is no need for consular support,” he said in Swedish comments.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International requested the liberation and protection of activists who were aboard the help ship to Gaza Madleen seized by the Israeli army.
In a statement published in X, Amnesty said: “By intercepting and blocking the force to the Madleen, Israel has once again ignored her legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip.”
“The crew were unarmed activists and human rights defenders in a humanitarian mission,” said the statement, added: “They must be immediately and unconditionally released. They must also be protected from torture and other ill -treatment.”
Amnesty also declared: “As the occupation power, Israel has the international obligation to ensure that Gaza civilians have sufficient and safe access to food, medicines and other indispensable supplies for their survival.
“On the other hand, and as part of their calculated effort to inflict the Palestinians in Gaza’s living conditions designed to cause their physical destruction, it has consistently and deliberately prevented the provision of impartial humanitarian assistance for civilians in desperate need.”
The statement also said that Madleen’s mission was “a powerful symbol of solidarity with besieged, hungry and suffering Palestinians in the midst of the persistent international inaction” and also “an accusation of the failure of the international community to put an end to the inhuman block of Israel.”
The activists would not have risk their lives if Israel’s allies would have “translated their rhetoric into forceful action to allow Gaza aid,” he added.
“The states must act now or risk complicity in the serious violations of Israel of the rights of the Palestinians,” the statement added.
Laureado Nobel Malala Yousafzai said the flotilla wore food and help for babies. “The Israeli government is hungry during the day while bombarding its homes at night. The unemployment and the arrest of activists in the Madleen is an act of cowardice by Israel. Preventing that food and medical supplies reach people in need is a violation of international law,” he said in a position in X.
He demanded that Israel free all activists and allow Gaza to help immediately, commits himself to a high permanent fire and let the Palestinians live in dignity and peace.
Today early, the Israeli army had seized Madleen, towing Israel, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on X, and added that activists will be deported to their countries.
The Ministry said the ship “is safely arriving at the coast of Israel. Passengers are expected to return to their countries of origin.”
He said that “the maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to unauthorized vessels under a legal naval block, according to international law.”
“Humanitarian aid is delivered regularly and effectively through different channels and routes and is transferred through established distribution mechanisms,” he added.
The FFC said Monday earlier that Israeli soldiers had kidnapped the activists who were in the Madleen.
The Israeli forces approached the charity ship that tried to reach the Gaza Strip in challenge of an Israeli naval block, said the FFC earlier in the day.
The Israeli army had no immediate comments.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has supported the operation of the FFC and urged other ships to challenge Gaza’s blockade.
“Madleen’s trip may have finished, but the mission is not over. All Mediterranean ports must send boats with help and solidarity to Gaza,” he wrote in X.
“According to the reports, as the Madleen was intercepted and seized by the Israeli forces in the INTALLAS waters, the United Kingdom Government must urgently seek complete clarification and ensure the immediate release of the boat and its crew,” he said in a separate position.
The Gaza Freedom flotilla had also said that the Quadcopters surrounded the Madleen and were “sprinkling it with a white paint substance,” Al Jazeera reported.
Huwaida Arraf, co -founder of the International Solidarity Movement, which supports the FFC, said Al Jazeera that some people reported that their “eyes burned” after the white substance was left in the help boat.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a video about X that shows the Israeli Navy that it communicated with the Madleen on a speaker, urging to change course, shortly before the FFC confirmed that the Israeli forces had approached the help ship to Gaza.
“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to naval traffic as part of a legal naval block,” said a soldier. “If you want to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, you can do it through the Ashdod port (Israeli).”
Mouin Rabbani, a non -resident fellow at the Center for Humanitarian Conflicts and Studies based in Qatar, said Al Jazeera That the “absolute silence” of the governments of the members of the Madleen crew reflects Israeli impunity.
“If any other state had sent its military forces to seize a small civil boat that transported 12 unarmed civilians to deliver food, formula for babies and crutches to a besieged population, it would be immediately recognized by the act of state piracy that is indisputable,” Rabbani said.
“But for Israel, there is always an exception.”
“This is not just an act of state piracy. It is in direct violation of the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICI),” Rabbani added, noting that the court has emphasized “the need for delivery without obstacles to humanitarian supplies to the population dismissed from the Gaza Strip.”
‘Until the last minute’
Madleen’s organizers said Saturday that they had reached the Egyptian waters and that they were close to Gaza, where the Israeli invasion of Gaza entered his month 21.
“Israel will not allow anyone to break Gaza’s naval block, which aims to prevent weapons from arriving in Hamas, a murderous terrorist group that supports our hostages and committed war crimes,” said Minister of Defense Israelia, Israel Katz, a day before.
“Israel will act against any attempt to break the blockade or support terrorist groups: by sea, air or earth,” he added.
The coalition responded in a statement about X, saying that he expected “interception and an attack by Israel at any time” and asking the governments of those on board to protect them.
The post added that the Madleen is 160 nautical miles from Gaza and that Jamming “briefly interrupted our location, but our tracker works again.”
Meanwhile, ships on board the ship have said they will continue their trip “until the last minute.”
“We will remain mobilized until the last minute, until Israel short internet and the networks,” said the member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan AFP From the boat. “There are twelve of American civilians on board. We are not armed. There is only humanitarian aid.”
Hassan expressed concern about the lack of official response from countries whose citizens are part of the crew.
“No state has responded. The message that is sent is that Israel is allowed to act with impunity, without any guarantee of protection for us,” he added.
In an X publication, Hassan said activists have “less than 24 hours” before being arrested by Israeli authorities.
“When we can no longer communicate with you, I have you to continue the mobilization that has been so valuable for us during this trip,” he wrote.
The nationals of Germany, France, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands are on the boat.
“We are not afraid of them,” said the German activist of human rights Yasemin Care, also on board. “The message they have been sending to us, that we cannot approach, is not making us go back.”
On Sunday, the French French and National Minister of French abroad, Laurent Saint-Martin, said France was obliged to guarantee “consular protection” for its nationals aboard the Madleen.
“The six French citizens on this ship have the right to consular protection,” he told a state television channel.
On May 27, Israel began to implement a controversial plan to distribute help through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, avoiding UN supervision. The Palestinians have denounced movement as a coercive tactic to force the displacement from north to the south of Gaza.
The Gaza Government Media Office said that the number of deaths of the American-Israeli aid distribution sites had increased to 125, with 736 injured and nine disappeared since May 27.
According to the office, 13 people died and 153 wounds only on Sunday in two separated incidents near those places.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said that the general cost for Gaza’s invasion had reached 54,880, being the civil majority. The ONS considers these reliable figures.
The conflict was caused by Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, which resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to a AFP Tally of official figures.
