A yacht carrying activists and a small quantity of humanitarian aid that was trying to reach Gaza is continuing towards an Israeli port, Israel's foreign ministry says
Climate activist Greta Thunberg and a French lawmaker are among 12 people aboard the Madleen that was intercepted by Israeli forces earlier today
Israel brands the boat a "selfie yacht" and carrying "less than a single truckload of aid" and says the activists will be deported
Thunberg said in a pre-recorded video message they had been "kidnapped" by Israeli forces
The Palestinian foreign ministry has called for protection of the activists' safety, and a UN official has asked for more ships to "sail together" to bring aid to Gaza
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Watch: Moment activists say Israel intercepted their boat
Edited by Adam Durbin
Adelah, the legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel, says it has sent an urgent letter to the country's authorities "demanding information on the whereabouts of the 12 activists forcibly detained after Israeli naval forces unlawfully seized the Madleen".
It says that it will pursue legal action to secure the activists' safety and release.
The group adds that the yacht never entered Israeli territorial waters and that it never intended to. Adaleh says Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority to seize the ship in international waters and the Madleen "was headed toward the territorial waters of the State of Palestine".
"Adalah demands the immediate disclosure of the activists’ location and legal status, and their access to legal counsel to enable legal representation before Israeli authorities and tribunals," the statement concludes.
A view of the Madleen when it was anchored off the Italian coast earlier this month
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says it is "urgently" working to locate the crew of the Madleen.
A press officer for the campaign group, Hay Sha Wiya, says: "According to the Israeli Immigration Authority, they are not in its custody."
Wiya says repeated attempts have also been made to contact Israeli military officials since the early hours of the this morning.
The BBC has not been able to verify whether the immigration authority has denied that the crew are in its custody – we have contacted the Israeli government for comment.
Israel's foreign ministry says the boat is "continuing its journey toward an Israeli port" – see our last post for details.
Israel's foreign ministry says the Madleen – which it refers to as a "selfie yacht" – "carrying Greta Thunberg and the other so-called 'celebrities' is continuing its journey toward an Israeli port".
In a post on X, it adds: "Upon arrival, arrangements will be made for their return to their respective home countries."
Amnesty International has issued a statement describing the flotilla's mission as "indictment of the international community’s failure to put an end to Israel’s inhumane blockade".
The human rights organisation goes on to say that Israel has an "international obligation to ensure safe access to food and essential supplies for Gaza's civilians", and that its actions show "chilling contempt" for international law.
"Activists would not have had to risk their lives if Israel’s allies had turned their words into forceful action to allow aid into Gaza", the group's leader Agnes Callamard says.
Sophie Williams
Reporting from Jerusalem
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer has given a press conference where he referred to the flotilla.
He says the Israeli forces towing the yacht have given the 12 activists on board plenty to eat and drink – and adds that the group will be returned home in a short time.
"On the subject of aid, the yacht had a meagre cargo but of course it will be sent into Gaza," he says.
"To poor Greta, we say, who is really feeding Gaza and who is feeding their own ego.
"When it comes to this flotilla, it wasn’t a flotilla, it was a selfie yacht. It was Instagram activism."
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says it is working "to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza" and that the Madleen was carrying a symbolic amount of aid, including rice and baby formula.
Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent
The 12 pro-Palestinians activists detained after the Madleen was intercepted by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza will be deported to their home countries, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.
Among those on board is the Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, six French nationals including a French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament and citizens from Brazil, Spain and Turkey.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron requested that the French nationals aboard the boat "be allowed to return to France as soon as possible", a presidential official said.
Turkey, meanwhile, condemned the interception as a "heinous attack" in international waters.
Israel had dismissed the mission of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition as a provocation, calling it a “selfie yacht”.
The group had planned to deliver a symbolic amount of supplies to Gaza, to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis there because of Israel’s restrictions on aid.
There was no surprise the boat was intercepted, as Israel had blocked similar efforts in the past.
The Madleen appears to be registered to the UK, according to ship tracking website MarineTraffic, which lists it under its formal name, the Barcarole.
Being UK-flagged means the boat is subject to British laws and regulations, and falls under the protection of the UK.
Earlier the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, urged the UK government to "urgently seek full clarification" and "secure the immediate release of the vessel and its crew".
Pictures are coming through of a small demonstration forming in Ashdod in Israel, ahead of the expected arrival of the Madleen.
The activists, who can be seen carrying signs and waving Palestinian flags, are demanding the halting of Israeli attacks and the blockade on Gaza.
Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent
Downing Street says it wants to see Israel resolve the situation around the detention of the Madleen yacht "safely with restraint, in line with international humanitarian law".
The Prime Minister's official spokesperson tells reporters at a Downing Street briefing that "we have made clear our position in relation to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The PM has called it appaling and intolerable."
"We have made it very clear we must get more aid into Gaza", they say, adding that " the unimpeded entry of assistance at scale to meet the enormous needs in Gaza is critical".
Israel has recently begun to allow limited aid into Gaza after a three-month blockade.
It is prioritising distribution through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US but widely condemned by humanitarian groups.
The UN's human rights chief Volker Türk said last week that Palestinians were being presented with the "grimmest of choices: die from starvation or risk being killed while trying to access the meagre food that is being made available".
As the BBC's international editor Jeremy Bowen writes, the GHF system means that the people must travel through a war zone in the ruins of southern Gaza to collect a box of rations. Distribution seems to be chaotic, and so far has repeatedly broken down into a free for all.
The GHF has more than once paused its operations to deal with overcrowding and safety concerns.
And there have been a number of deadly incidents near aid points set up by the new organisation. At the weekend, at least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire as they were heading to get food.
Last week, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross told the BBC that Gaza had become worse than "hell on earth".
Joe Inwood
World news correspondent
Bright lights were flashing and screeching noises caused some to cover their ears the moment the Madleen was boarded, according to footage captured by an onboard security camera.
A voice, which appears to belong to Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila, can be heard repeatedly telling the crew to “ditch your phones… phones in the water”. Shortly after, someone can be seen hurling a device off the side of the boat. A laptop is also thrown overboard.
He tells everyone to “assume positions”, before giving a thumbs up to someone outside the boat. It is not clear who he is signalling to, although it would appear to be someone on another vessel.
He can then be seen saying into a phone: “We are being boarded now… it’s very important you know, no one is wounded now. No one was wounded when they boarded our boat.”
A woman’s voice says: “If anything happens to us, this is a war crime.”
The mood onboard appears calm, with the crew’s hands in the air.
Three and a half minutes after the start of the released recording, another boat appears in the back of the shot. Another voice can be heard saying “calm down… calm down everyone”. It is not clear who is speaking.
Ten seconds later, Israeli military personnel can be seen walking onto the boat, crouching down and talking to one of the crew. Shortly after, the footage ends.
This almost four minutes of footage was put online by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. It is not clear if the transmission stopped at this point or if only a section was released.
What is clear is that the crew of the boat were keen to make it clear they did not want to risk physical confrontation with the special forces who were boarding them.
French officials say the country will work to ensure the French citizens on the Madleen yacht will be returned as soon as possible, the AFP news agency reports.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot says France will work to "facilitate their swift return", it adds.
AFP also cites an unnamed official who says President Emmanuel Macron has requested for those on the yacht to "be allowed to return to France as swiftly as possible."
There are believed to be a number of French citizens aboard the boat – including Rima Hassan, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria and is now a member of the European Parliament
Emily Atkinson
Live reporter
In case you're just joining us, we're waiting for word on the docking of a small aid yacht – the Madleen – that has been intercepted by Israel while on its way to Gaza.
The boat's current location is still not clear, nor are the time and place it will dock, following conflicting reports from Israeli authorities and local media.
We first heard of the blocking of the vessel just after 05:30 local time (03:30 BST). It was understood to have been sailing near the Egyptian coast at the time.
The yacht's operator, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition campaign group – of which activist Greta Thunberg is a part – posted a photo showing people in life jackets sitting with their hands up on Telegram.
"SOS! The volunteers on Madleen have been kidnapped by Israeli forces," it said.
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli foreign ministry said the "unharmed" crew were now "safely" making their way to Israel.
And, just after 08:00 local time, Israel's defence minister said the intercepted vessel would be taken, along with its crew, to the Israeli port city of Ashdod.
We had been keeping an eye on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's tracker, but the last live update was recorded around 03:00 local time.
We're closely monitoring for updates of the ship's whereabouts. Stay with us.
Twelve people have been aboard the Madleen since it set sail from Sicily on 1 June, including:
Also onboard are French doctor and activist Baptiste Andre, Turkish activist Suayb Ordu, Dutch engineering student Mark van Rennes, French citizen Reva Viard, and Pascal Maurieras, who has participated in other Freedom Flotilla missions before.
Jeremy Bowen
International editor
We’re talking about the humanitarian situation in Gaza as a result of this.
It's clear what they were trying to do, they were making a point, and the Israelis are making a point as well and they were never going to let the yacht get to the coast of Gaza – I think that was clear.
There was a previous incident in May 2010 when a Turkish ship trying to do something similar was boarded.
Back then the Israelis were very heavy handed, they killed nine of the passengers on board and wounded 30. A handful of Israeli soldiers were also injured.
Clearly the Israelis have learned a bit from that and they’re saying that the passengers are safe and well.
At the time, that incident was very damaging for relations with Turkey.
This was a mission designed to stimulate controversy and debate.
The Madleen set out from the Sicilian port of Catania on 1 June, sailing south-east through the Mediterranean Sea.
It journeyed south of Greece and the Greek islands, before sailing parallel to the coast of Egypt.
A tracker had been providing live updates of the boat's location on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition's website – but that stopped around 01:00 BST this morning, with the yacht roughly north of Cairo in Egypt and heading towards Gaza.
Greta Thunberg on the boat after it left Sicily
Earlier we reported that the Madleen had arrived in the Israeli port of Ashdod, citing an update from Israeli broadcaster Kan.
However, around 30 minutes ago, the official Israel X account said the vessel was "safely making its way to the shores of Israel", and there have since been reports in other Israeli media saying that it's still en route.
We will continue monitoring for updates and will share details with you as soon as we get them. Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem
The Madleen was organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a campaign group that for years has been trying to breach a blockade on Gaza that was imposed by Israel in 2007 when Hamas took control of the territory.
The activists said the goal of the mission, which carried a small amount of supplies including rice and baby formula, was to raise awareness of the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza because of Israel’s restrictions on the delivery of aid.
The passengers aboard the Madleen included the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament, which gave the mission significant media coverage.
But nobody was expecting them to reach Gaza, as previous efforts had been stopped by Israel.
In May, the group said a different ship – the Conscience – was struck by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta, as activists planned to sail to Gaza. They suggested Israel was behind the attack.
In 2010, an Israeli raid on a flotilla resulted in 10 deaths.
The Israeli foreign ministry has described the latest mission as a “selfie yacht” of “celebrities”, and Defence Minister Israel Katz called it propaganda for Hamas. He said he had instructed the Israeli forces who intercepted the vessel to screen footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, which led to the war in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues.
On Sunday, there was another deadly incident as Palestinians were heading to an aid distribution site, part of a new mechanism backed by Israel and the US for the distribution of aid.
The system bypasses the UN and aid groups that have operated in Gaza for decades, and has been criticised as insufficient and inhumane.
Israeli broadcaster Kan is reporting that the Madleen has now arrived in the port of Ashdod.
Israel's defence minister earlier said the vessel would be transported there after it was intercepted while trying to reach the Gaza Strip.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian territories, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the yacht ran into three incidents on its way to Gaza.
Albanese says she was in contact with the vessel during its journey, and says it was scheduled to reach Gaza at some point today.
But communications were jammed when the yacht still in international waters, she says.
"First they were surrounded by speedboats," she says. "This was the first time I heard their stress."
After the speedboats moved on and things calmed down, Albanese says two "pod copters" flew over them and claims the boat had a substance thrown over it.
Albanese says she was then on the phone with the boat and that's when Israeli soldiers boarded and "communications with the captain were abruptly interrupted."
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