Activists who were forcibly detained by Israeli forces<\/a> while sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid say they\u2019ve been facing abuse and threats from authorities while held in inhumane conditions \u2014 but are pleading for the public to\u00a0stay focused on Israel\u2019s destructive campaign<\/a>\u00a0in the walled-off Palestinian territory.<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen in international waters<\/a> early Monday and detained all 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan, a French-Palestinian. The civilian boat sailed from Italy with the goal of delivering aid<\/a> to Gaza and creating a maritime humanitarian corridor<\/a>\u00a0for the starving enclave to\u00a0break Israel\u2019s deadly siege.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which organized the humanitarian mission, said that Israeli forces told detained activists to sign a document<\/a>\u00a0admitting \u201cillegal entry into Israeli territory\u201d in order to be deported back to their home countries. While four of them have since been deported, all of the activists strongly rejected Israel\u2019s claim of unlawful entry.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI did not recognize that I entered the country illegally,\u201d Thunberg told reporters upon arriving in France <\/a>on Tuesday, saying the document she signed did not include that requirement. \u201cI made it very clear in my testimonial that we were kidnapped on international waters and brought there against our own will and into Israel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg talks to journalists upon arriving at Stockholm-Arlanda airport, on June 10, 2025. Israel deported Thunberg after unlawfully detaining her on an aid boat set for Gaza with other 11 other activists. Anders Wiklund\/TT News Agency\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The activists say authorities were also threatening and abusive. Dr. Baptiste Andr\u00e9, a French member of the crew who returned from detention, recalled \u201cacts of abuse\u201d <\/a>by Israeli forces against the activists \u2014 especially to Thunberg, who later said that any conditions she faced<\/a> \u201cwere absolutely nothing compared to what people are going through in Palestine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as she fell asleep, the immigration services would come and wake her up\u201d by playing loud music and dancing, Andr\u00e9 said on Tuesday<\/a>. He also alleged that detainees experienced \u201cdifficulties in accessing water and food,\u201d and had no access to toilets.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as one of the officers felt that I was starting to understand a little of what they were doing, he approached me and said to me, \u2018Why are you like this and why do you smell bad?\u2019\u201d crew member and Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad said upon returning to France. \u201cI told him, \u2018You haven\u2019t let us rest for three days.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Eight of the Madleen passengers remain in custody as of Wednesday, according to Adalah<\/a>, the Palestinian legal group representing the activists. Among the eight is Hassan, who Faiad said was threatened by Israeli forces for refusing to sign the deportation documents.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI heard the officer directly threatening her, \u2018I\u2019ll smash your head against the wall if you don\u2019t sign. We\u2019ll handle this our way,\u2019\u201d Faiad recalled. Thunberg also said that fellow volunteers were treated \u201cobviously in a very dehumanizing way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n French-Palestinian member of European Parliament Rima Hassan attends a rally against Islamophobia and in tribute to a man who was killed in a mosque in La Grand Combe, in Paris, on April 27, 2025. Bastien Ohier\/Hans Lucas\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Hassan was first placed in Givon Prison before Israeli forces put her in solitary confinement at the Neve Tirza Prison for writing \u201cFree Palestine\u201d on a wall, according to the FFC<\/a>. In isolation, she stayed in a \u201csmall, windowless cell with extremely poor hygienic conditions and has been denied access to the prison yards.\u201d On Wednesday, she was moved back to Givon.<\/span><\/p>\n The European Parliament member is not the only passenger who was allegedly isolated. Brazilian activist Thiago Avila was taken to solitary confinement in Ayalon Prison after he started a hunger and thirst strike. Israeli forces have blocked efforts by both the embassy and Avila\u2019s lawyer to speak with his family, according to his wife, Lara.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe told [his lawyer] that he was threatened by the Israeli forces and that they said that he would have no contact with anyone \u2014 not even his lawyer \u2014 that he would be there alone with no light, with no ventilation and, well, you know that\u2019s psychological torture,\u201d Lara Avila said in a recording<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n A ruling Wednesday by the Israeli Detention Review Tribunal upheld the decision<\/a> to hold the remaining eight volunteers in custody, and scheduled the next court hearing for July 8 if the activists aren\u2019t deported before then. Adalah called the ruling \u201clegal cover to arbitrary detention that could last for more than a month, without any judicial oversight, in violation of international law and activists\u2019 rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Protesters demonstrate in support of the activists detained by Israel for trying to deliver aid on the Madleen flotilla to Gaza, at Place de la Republique in Paris, on June 11, 2025. Alexandre Rault\/Hans Lucas\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cUnder international law, the detention of the eight remaining flotilla members is arbitrary, unlawful and must be immediately terminated and remedied,\u201d U.N. special rapporteur Francesca Albanese posted Wednesday on X<\/a>. \u201cThe boat must be released. The states of nationality of the unlawfully detained, have an obligation to intervene, decisively and without delay.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Many of the crew members who have spoken out maintain that the public should focus less on their situation and more on<\/a> what they and many in the international community now call Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide in Gaza<\/a>. Israeli forces continue to drop bombs on Palestinians and any life-sustaining infrastructure while allowing minimal aid into the territory via a militarized distribution system \u2014 which has resulted in soldiers shooting at starving people in line for food.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPlease keep your focus on Gaza. People are starving, children are starving. Entire families are surviving without clean water, without food, without medicine \u2013 and this is happening on our watch,\u201d detained activist Yasemin Acar said in a message read by her brother.<\/a> \u201cAnd by looking away, by staying silent, we\u2019re complicit. There comes a point where looking away becomes a crime, and we\u2019re there now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDelivering aid is not a crime. Taking us against our will in international waters, is,\u201d the message continued. \u201cBut our kidnapping is nothing compared to what\u2019s happening in Gaza. Please keep your focus on the real issue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>
<\/div>