Aid boat bound for Gaza was seized by Israel, but crew member still considers trip a win

Yasmine Hassan · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 13, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Dr. Baptiste André's garment was inactive grimy erstwhile helium walked retired of the arrivals level astatine Charles de Gaulle Airport successful Paris to a flurry of cameras, microphones and questions from journalists.

The French autochthonal was 1 of 11 unit members connected the Madleen, portion of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, and among the 3 — including Swedish activistic Greta Thunberg — who signed deportation papers aft the vessel was seized by the Israeli navy connected Monday before it could scope the Gaza Strip. (A 4th person, a journalist, besides signed the papers.)

The conjugation aims to interruption Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and present a symbolic magnitude of aid. Most of the enclave's 2.1 cardinal radical person been displaced by war, and malnutrition is widespread, the United Nations says. Israel has dismissed the assistance vessel arsenic a publicity stunt.

During a 20-minute impromptu news conference connected Wednesday, André became visibly affectional arsenic helium referred to the courageousness of immoderate of his colleagues successful an Israeli jailhouse who refused to sign deportation papers — thing helium said he felt helium had to motion for idiosyncratic and nonrecreational reasons.

André said the papers helium signed contained allegations that helium had entered Israel illegally — a complaint that is false, helium said, due to the fact that the vessel was successful planetary waters.

By the clip the Madleen, a foundation vessel, was boarded and seized by Israeli naval forces successful the Mediterranean, André said, the unit felt a consciousness of disappointment. "We were capable to marque 90 per cent of our route, but we were not capable to dock connected the shores of Gaza," helium told CBC News.

"The feeling onboard successful the opening was 1 of joyousness aft galore weeks of preparation," helium said. "A batch of joy, but a batch of accent arsenic well."

'Fear was precise present'

André, who served arsenic the onboard medic, and the unit began their travel connected June 1, sailing from confederate Italy with a boatload of humanitarian aid. The Madleen was destined to dock successful Gaza, wherever the unit planned to distribute the assistance to Palestinians, but its travel ended 100 nautical miles (185 kilometres) from the seashore of Gaza.

It was astir 3 a.m. section clip connected Monday, André said, when the unit was surrounded by Israeli drones before dozens of soldiers arrived and boarded the boat.

Each unit subordinate had circumstantial duties, and André said his were to marque definite everyone was wearing their life-jackets; to cod cellphones and propulsion them successful the water; and to cod room knives that were utilized to make meals, enactment them successful a container and propulsion it overboard.

He was besides liable for keeping drawback bags that contained the crew's passports, bottles of water, medicine and immoderate food.

Controls of the Madleen were taken implicit by the Israelis, and the unit was brought to Ashdod, a metropolis successful Israel connected the Mediterranean coast, "against their will," André said.

"The feeling onboard successful that infinitesimal was 1 of fear, adjacent though we had prepared with regular grooming to beryllium capable to negociate each scenarios successful the champion imaginable way. But contempt that, fearfulness was precise present."

Most unit members person been deported

Despite not making it to their destination, André said helium inactive considers the expedition a "success," as the unit brought attraction to the plight of Palestinians successful Gaza.

"This ngo was framed arsenic a question of solidarity — we played our portion successful it," helium said.

Israel began a subject run successful Gaza aft it was attacked by Hamas-led militants, who killed immoderate 1,200 radical and took astir 251 hostage connected Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli authorities say. Since then, astir 55,000 Palestinians person been killed, according to wellness authorities in Gaza, and overmuch of the densely populated portion has been flattened.

The Israeli authorities said connected Thursday that six different unit members of the Madleen were released and taken to Ben Gurion Airport for flights to their location countries.

Lawyers with Adalah, a Palestinian-run ineligible centre successful Israel, said unit members were subjected to "mistreatment, punitive measures, and assertive treatment, and 2 volunteers were held for immoderate play of clip successful solitary confinement."

Israeli authorities declined to remark connected their treatment. The authorities said it treats detainees successful a lawful mode and investigates immoderate allegations of abuse.

The six who were released included Rima Hassan, a French subordinate of the European parliament whom Israel had antecedently barred from entering Israel and the Palestinian territories, citing her enactment for boycotts of the country.

The past 2 activists are expected to beryllium deported connected Friday, according to Adalah.

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