The crew of a boat carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza has rescued four people who jumped from a sinking inflatable raft in the Central Mediterranean.
The Madleen’s voyage has been launched by the international non-profit Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC). The vessel changed course off the coast of Crete on Thursday following a distress call from Frontex, the European border and coast guard agency, about the deflating raft. Crew members said the raft was carrying 30-40 Sudanese people fleeing refugee camps in Libya.
After contacting Greek and Egyptian authorities, the Madleen was advised to intervene. As a Libyan coast guard vessel approached, four people on the boat jumped overboard to avoid capture. Migrants in Libyan detention centres face human rights abuses.
The four people were taken aboard the Madleen, whose crew has contacted search and rescue non-governmental agencies and urged Greece, Malta and Italy to organise the transfer of the Sudanese people to Europe.
Official documents are quietly disappearing from departmental websites. Why?
I cleared six figures’ worth of debt in Ireland. These are the low-risk ways to invest
Air India Flight 171: Two pilots had almost no time to recover as passenger jet went down
Israel-Iran latest: Trump says he wants ‘real end’ to nuclear stand-off with Iran
The FFC has said the Madleen will continue its mission despite Israel saying it could intercept the vessel. In a video posted on X, Brazilian crew member Thiago Avila said the intention is to “break the siege of Gaza and create a people’s humanitarian sea corridor.”
The boat, named after Madleen Kulab, Gaza’s only fisherwoman, set sail from Sicily seven days ago. Those on board include Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan. They are joined by activists from Germany, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.
The Israeli military has said it is “enforcing the maritime security blockade on the Gaza Strip” and is “prepared and ready for a wide range of scenarios”.
Interviewed by Al-Jazeera during the journey, Thunberg said they will resist peacefully if boarded or diverted.
Israel’s broadcasting authority has said the ship could be forced to turn back or escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where its crew would face arrest.
[ International aid ship en route to Gaza will be stopped, warns Israeli militaryOpens in new window ]
Another FFC vessel, the Conscience, was struck by drones in May and limped into port in Malta. The FFC blamed Israel for the attack.
Prof John Dugard, a former judge at the International Court of Justice, said in an interview with FFC that “to justify action in self-defence, Israel has to satisfy the international community that it has been subjected to an attack. And no one can describe the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza as an attack.”
The UN warned on Thursday that Israeli restrictions have left the people of Gaza “vulnerable to starvation” with daily consumption only 67 per cent of the amount needed for survival.
