Activist Greta Thunberg and her crew stand aboard the humanitarian ship Madleen, which departed from the Italian port of Catania on June 1, 2025 to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this photo shared on social media on June 2, 2025. (Credit: Reuters)
A humanitarian ship carrying 12 activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, has reached the Egyptian coast and is approaching the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, which is under Israeli siege, organizers announced on Saturday.
The Madleen, a sailing vessel of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departed Sicily on Sunday bound for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid and to “break the Israeli blockade” imposed on the Palestinian territory, which is at risk of famine according to the U.N.
“We are currently sailing off the Egyptian coast,” German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. “Everything is going well.”
In a statement issued Saturday from London, the International Committee to Break the Siege of Gaza — a member organization of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition — said the ship had entered Egyptian waters, neighboring the Gaza Strip.
The committee stated it was in contact with international legal bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute “a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”
The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack on Oct. 7, 2023, by commandos from the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, who infiltrated southern Israel from the neighboring Gaza Strip.
In response, Israel launched a devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza, which it has besieged since the start of the war, with the stated aims of taking control of the territory, destroying Hamas, and forcing the group to release the hostages abducted during the Oct. 7 attack and taken into Gaza.
On Thursday, the boat diverted from its route to rescue four Sudanese migrants at sea. At the time, the sailboat was in the Mediterranean Sea, south of Greece and north of Libya and Egypt.
In addition to Greta Thunberg, Franco-Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan is also on board the vessel.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, founded in 2010, is an international non-violent solidarity movement with the Palestinians, with a humanitarian mission and political advocacy against the Gaza blockade.
The Madleen is carrying “fruit juices, milk, rice, canned goods, and protein bars donated by hundreds of citizens of Catania,” wrote journalist Andrea Legni, who is on board.
In early May, a ship that the Freedom Flotilla Coalition had hoped would collect supporters — including Greta Thunberg — in Malta and then head to Gaza, was damaged. The activists said they suspected an Israeli drone attack.
Rubio condemns Iran's 'outrageous' attacks on Kuwait
