Is Israel's Interception Of The Gaza Freedom Flotilla Legal?

(MENAFN- The Conversation) Israel's interception of a ship launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) - a grassroots group that campaigns in solidarity with the Palestinian people - in international waters approximately 185 kilometres from Gaza has raised serious questions about the legality of its actions.

The Madleen - a small, British-flagged civilian vessel named for Gaza's first fisherwoman - was carrying 11 activists, one journalist and a small cargo of humanitarian aid , including flour, baby formula and children's prostheses. Israeli forces detained all passengers, including well-known Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French European Parliamentarian Rima Hassan.

The FFC uses non-violent direct action to attempt to break the blockade Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2007 , and to raise awareness about the“ongoing brutality inflicted upon civilians in Gaza.”

At approximately 3 a.m. local time on June 9, Israeli forces rammed and boarded the Madleen. Shortly before that, military drones hovered above it and the activists took video of Israeli forces of spraying a white substance on board that“caused burning eyes and general discomfort .”

Israel says it intercepted the Madleen to enforce“a legal naval blockade .” The FFC, however, has called Israel's actions an“illegal attack” and“a small extension of their war crimes in Gaza .”

Climate activist Greta Thunberg stands near a Palestinian flag after boarding the Madleen boat and before setting sail for Gaza along with activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in near the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy on June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli) Past attacks on humanitarian flotillas

Israel's interception of the Madleen is not without precedent. On May 2, the FFC ship Conscience was seriously damaged during a drone attack while carrying humanitarian aid bound for Gaza. The attack ended its journey.

In 2010, a group of six vessels called the Gaza Aid Flotilla sailed to Gaza to breach the Israeli blockade. The largest of the ships, the Mavi Marmara, was carrying more than 500 passengers when it was raided by Israeli forces in international waters , killing 10 people and wounding 56.

Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara triggered international legal scrutiny and condemnation. The United Nations secretary-general immediately established an inquiry that determined the Israeli attack had resulted in“unacceptable” death, injury and mistreatment of detainees.

The Mavi Marmara ship, the lead boat of a flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip when it was stormed by Israeli naval commandos in a predawn confrontation, sails into the port of Ashdod, Israel, in May 2010 following the incident that killed 10 people. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Additionally, the UN Human Rights Council established a fact-finding mission that found that“no case can be made for the legality of the interception .”

The Union of the Comoros, where the vessel was registered, referred the situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC), alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity. A chamber of the court found there was evidence Israeli soldiers committed“systematic abuse” of detained passengers.

In the end, the case did not proceed because the prosecutor decided the incident was of“insufficient gravity ,” in part because they could not identify a plan or policy on the part of Israel to carry out war crimes on a large scale.

Israel's ongoing crimes in Gaza

It would be difficult to make the same conclusion regarding the situation in Gaza today.

Israel is downplaying the severity of its attack on the Madleen, casting it as a sort of rescue mission as the Israeli foreign ministry posted a photo of activists being offered sandwiches . But Israel's actions must be evaluated within the context of legal findings that have already been made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the ICC.

In January 2024, the ICJ found there was a“real and imminent risk” that Israel would commit genocide in Gaza. Two months later, it ordered Israel not to impede the provision of humanitarian assistance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel in October 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant based on reasonable grounds that they“intentionally and knowingly deprived the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival” and that this deprivation“created conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the civilian population.”

In separate proceedings in July 2024, the ICJ found that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, including Gaza and its surrounding waters, was unlawful and must come to an end“as rapidly as possible .”

Against this backdrop, the interception of the flotilla could be seen as furthering Israel's unlawful blockade, occupation and attack against the civilian population of Gaza, in addition to constituting unlawful targeting of the civilians on board. Amnesty International's Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, has accused Israel of once again flouting “its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip” with the interception of the boat.

Arbitrary detention, degrading treatment

Thunberg, along with four other activists, has already been deported from Israel. Eight passengers who Israel says chose not“to sign deportation documents” remain in detention in an Israeli prison and will soon appear in court.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said they would be forced to watch video footage of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel. He later said they refused to watch the video.

This detention and its circumstances may constitute violations of the protection against arbitrary deprivation of liberty under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is a signatory.

People wave the Palestinian flag and hold signs in support of Greta Thunberg and other activists who tried to deliver aid to Gaza before their ship was seized and they were detained by Israeli forces near the port of Ashdod, Israel, on June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa) Israel cannot legally block aid

Israel is not permitted to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza. The ICJ has ordered Israel to“ensure the unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed humanitarian assistance” and not do anything that would constitute a violation of the Genocide Convention“including by preventing, through any action, the delivery” of aid.

The Geneva Convention also outlaws collective punishment of civilian populations and requires free passage of aid.

Israel seemingly anticipated these arguments. Israeli officials mocked the Madleen , calling it a“selfie yacht” carrying a “tiny amount of aid” and proclaiming that“the show is over.” These statements could serve to cast the FFC as a disingenuous humanitarian mission.

The Gaza-bound aid boat, Madleen, right, under escort of Israeli naval forces making its way toward Ashdod Port in southern Israel after being seized by Israeli forces on June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel also claims that the aid on board will be distributed through“real humanitarian channels.” This is likely an attempt by Israel to signal it's not violating international humanitarian law by blocking assistance.

These arguments, however, fail to acknowledge that the size of a humanitarian mission is irrelevant to the protection accorded to civilians and the requirement to allow delivery of aid.

Disregarding the courts

Israel has disregarded the ICJ's orders to facilitate the delivery of urgently needed food and supplies to Gaza and has been accused of gunning down starving civilians at aid distribution centres .

The Madleen's mission was to force the world to acknowledge, in real time, Israel's disregard for international law. In this aim, it succeeded. Israel's interception of the Madleen could end up being prosecuted in the domestic courts of the passengers' home countries, in the United Kingdom - where the boat was registered - or at the ICC.

Humanitarians have vowed to continue to try to breach Israel's blockade on Gaza. The Madleen's voyage is a precursor to the March on Gaza scheduled for June 15, where thousands of activists will attempt to reach the Rafah crossing. The world will be watching.

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