Drones Spotted Near Gaza-Bound Aid Ship With Greta Thunberg & Other Activists

A group of international activists sailing toward Gaza on a mission to break Israel’s blockade faced a tense moment on Tuesday night when they spotted drones circling their boat in the Mediterranean.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the mission, said their vessel Madleen was being followed by unidentified drones about 40 nautical miles outside Greek waters.

The group, traveling on an 18-meter UK-flagged sailboat previously called Barcarole but renamed Madleen, raised an urgent appeal for help. In a video posted online, activists wearing lifejackets said, “We can clearly see a drone to our left. It’s gaining on us a little bit. Please share this alert. Please share our location.” The drone reportedly hovered above the vessel briefly before flying away.

Later, the activists confirmed that the drone was a Heron model operated by the Hellenic Coast Guard, which regularly patrols the area due to heavy migrant boat traffic.

Despite this clarification, the group said the drone’s presence was intimidating and accused Greek and possibly European authorities of working with Israel to monitor their movement.

The incident happened while the vessel was south of Crete, moving at around 6 knots, with no destination entered in the AIS (Automatic Identification System) data.

Onboard Madleen are a dozen activists, including Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, and Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan. They are documenting their journey through social media, sharing videos and pictures of themselves singing protest songs and spending time on deck. However, the mood briefly shifted during the drone incident when visible fear was shown in the videos they posted.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition later said that the drone encounter happened at 11:12 p.m. local time on Tuesday, June 3, 2025. According to their statement, after the first drone passed, two more drones appeared hours later. The group said Greek authorities failed to confirm the drone identities or offer help, even though Greece was the closest port.

The statement questioned whether Greece or the EU was sharing intelligence with Israel, which could lead to another attack like the one that happened to their earlier vessel, Conscience, in May.

According to the coalition, the Conscience was hit by two projectiles near Malta and caught fire. Maltese officials confirmed a fire aboard that vessel, but did not comment on the cause.

In their press release, the coalition strongly criticised Israel, accusing it of genocide and illegal control over Gaza’s maritime access. A spokesperson from the Israel Defense Forces was quoted in media reports saying the military is “prepared to operate on all fronts, including the maritime arena. We will act accordingly.”

The activists onboard Madleen say their boat carries symbolic aid for Palestinians in Gaza. The items include baby formula, rice, flour, diapers, sanitary products, children’s prosthetics, crutches, water desalination kits, and basic medical supplies.

More than delivering the supplies, the mission is meant to protest the Israeli blockade and bring global attention to the situation in Gaza.

UN human rights experts have also urged the international community to ensure the safe passage of Madleen. They stated that blocking the boat would go against international law and that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is “man-made and can be stopped immediately.”

Huwaida Arraf, a human rights attorney and a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, said Israel had no legal grounds to enforce a maritime blockade on Gaza. She added that intercepting Madleen would violate international maritime law and defy the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) binding orders that call for unimpeded aid access to Gaza.

Thiago Ávila, another steering committee member aboard the boat, said the Madleen represents global support for ending what the group calls a blockade and genocide.

The group said Israel’s threat to stop the Madleen comes amid its ongoing attacks in Gaza, including destruction of neighborhoods, hospitals, bakeries, and civilian shelters. The ICJ in January 2024 had found Israel’s actions could amount to genocide and ordered the country to allow aid.

However, the coalition claims Israel continues to block convoys, attack aid ships, and promote a U.S.-Israel-led program called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which they say aims to control aid access and advance plans to displace Palestinians.

The Freedom Flotilla is now calling on the world’s governments, institutions, and people to act urgently to stop any assault on their boat and to demand safe humanitarian access to Gaza.

Reference: freedomflotilla

Source: Maritime Shipping News