"Madleen": The new Gaza flotilla attempting to bring aid to the besieged Gaza Strip

Weeks after attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla, it decides to sail again on June 1st to attempt break siege imposed by the Israeli occupation on the Gaza Strip. Last month, the Flotilla sailed to Gaza but was soon halted by drone attack, forcing the internationals on board to return. Famous names expected to be on board: Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham and EU lawmaker Rima Hassan.

**12 volunteers aboard 'Madleen' **

Baptiste Andre 🇫🇷 Greta Thunberg 🇸🇪 Şuayb Ordu 🇹🇷 Mark van Rennes 🇳🇱 Omar Faiad 🇫🇷 Pascal Maurieras 🇫🇷 Reva Viard 🇫🇷 Rima Hassan 🇫🇷 Sergio Toribio 🇪🇸 Thiago Ávila 🇧🇷 Yanis Mhamdi 🇫🇷 Yasemin Acar 🇩🇪

Madleen Tracker Don’t lose the Madleen. Track her journey for safety, accountability, and solidarity." Forensic Architecture has created an online "Madleen Tracker" to keep an eye on her perilous journey to bring Aid to the besieged Gaza: https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/

Gaza Flotilla statement

*Catania, Sicily, Italy | June 1, 2025 – Today at 16:00 GMT+2 the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) launched the Madleen, a civilian ship now sailing toward Gaza carrying humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders in direct defiance of Israel’s illegal and genocidal blockade. Named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman in 2014, Madleen symbolizes the unyielding spirit of Palestinian resilience and the growing global resistance to Israel’s use of collective punishment and deliberate starvation policies. Her launch comes just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another Freedom Flotilla aid ship, in international waters off the coast of Malta—underscoring both the urgency and the danger of this mission to break the siege on Gaza. On board are volunteers from multiple countries, among them Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, and climate justice activist Greta Thunberg. The ship is carrying urgently needed supplies for the people of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, diapers, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches, and children’s prosthetics. Fifteen years ago, Israel carried out an unlawful and deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara, in which ten humanitarian volunteers were killed while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. This mission is a continuation of that legacy—a refusal to surrender to silence, fear, or complicity. The siege on Gaza is maintained not just by Israeli firepower, but by global inaction. 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. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition emphasizes that this is a peaceful act of civil resistance. All volunteers and crew aboard Madleen are trained in nonviolence. They are sailing unarmed, united by the shared belief that Palestinians deserve the same rights, freedom, and dignity as all people.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on:

• Governments to guarantee safe passage for Madleen and all humanitarian vessels

• Media outlets to report on this mission with accuracy and integrity

• People of conscience everywhere to reject silence and take action for Gaza

We will not be deterred. We will not be silenced.

Voices from the Madleen

“I am aboard Madleen because silence is not neutrality—it is complicity, 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.” Rima Hassan

“We are seeing a systematic starvation of 2 million people. The world cannot be silent bystanders, Every single one of us has a moral obligation to do everything we can to fight for a free Palestine.” Greta Thunberg

Chronology of the event

On June 3, reports from the Madleen Freedom Flotilla, sailing to break the US-Israeli siege on Gaza and deliver aid, that a drone appeared at the ship a short while ago and hovered over it. It has now moved on, but the passengers are still alert and concerned.