Freedom Flotilla says Handala crew detained for 8 hours
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says the Handala crew has been “illegally detained by Israel for over 8 hours following their kidnapping in international waters”.
“According to our information, the crew was detained and taken by force to an Israeli port,” the FFC said in a post on social media.
As we reported earlier, the FFC said it lost all communications with the Handala after Israeli forces cut the cameras on board the ship at 11:43pm local time (20:43 GMT) on Saturday.
Handala vessel brought to Ashdod port: Report
The Freedom Flotilla’s Handala vessel has been brought to the port of Ashdod by Israeli forces, a day after they seized the boat in international waters and detained the crew.
The Israeli legal rights centre Adalah told the AFP news agency that its lawyers were in Ashdod, trying to speak with the detained 21-member crew, which includes two French parliamentarians and two Al Jazeera journalists.
“After 12 hours at sea, following the unlawful interception of the Handala, Israeli authorities confirmed the vessel’s arrival at Ashdod port,” Adalah said.
“Despite repeated demands, Israeli authorities have refused to allow Adalah’s lawyers access to the detained activists to provide legal consultation,” it continued.
“Adalah reiterates that the activists aboard the Handala were part of a peaceful civilian mission to break through Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza. The vessel was intercepted in international waters and their detention constitutes a clear violation of international law.”
Israel’s Latest Freedom Flotilla Ambush Has Backfired Already!
There's nothing quite like trying to paint a ship carrying nappies & baby milk as an existential threat to make you look stupid is there Israel... Right, so Israel would have you believe that powdered milk and nappies pose an existential threat to its security.
That is, if you accept the logic that a British-flagged trawler stuffed with baby formula is somehow some kind of urgent target, but it’s hardly the first time is it? This is however apparently the logic of the Gaza blockade, where feeding starving infants is treated as subversion, and unarmed humanitarian workers are kidnapped at gunpoint in international waters.
The Handala—a former Norwegian trawler turned lifeline for Gaza’s children—wasn’t sailing under cover of darkness to smuggle weapons; it livestreamed its entire voyage to prove exactly what it was carrying. But when your war strategy depends on starving 100,000 babies into submission, even milk powder becomes contraband. And while Israel dispatched drones and commandos to silence the ship, Britain—whose flag it carried and whose citizen, Chloé Ludden, now sits in detention—did precisely nothing again.
Starving babies is not fighting Hamas. But it is a war crime—and those who stand by, from Tel Aviv to Downing Street, are not bystanders. They are collaborators. The recent interception of the Handala ship raises serious questions about Israel's actions and the international community's response. The ship, carrying aid for Gaza children, was treated as a security threat, highlighting the ongoing Gaza blockade. This situation underscores the dire middle east humanitarian crisis and the need for accountability. The lack of intervention raises concerns about complicity in potential war crimes.
It's been clear for a long time that the UK is complicit. Starmer and Lammy to the ICC.
