New Delhi: The Madleen, a ship carrying life-saving humanitarian aid that was bound for Gaza, has been intercepted by Israeli forces, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has said. Al Jazeera reports that the travellers on the ship were forcibly removed from it and are now being taken into Israel.

The unarmed ship is an effort to break Israeli blockade of Gaza and is named after a Gaza fisherwoman. It was around 160 kilometres from Gaza when it was stopped.

The ship has French physician Baptiste Andre, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunber, Dutch activist Marco van Rennes, Al Jazeera journalist Omar Faiad, French activists Pascal Maurieras and Reva Viard, French Palestinian Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, Spanish activist Sergio Toribio, Turkish activist Suayb Ordu, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, French journalist Yanis Mhamdi and German activist Yasemin Acar.

Avila and Thunberg are among those who have posted videos they had pre-recorded and sought to release if the Madleen is intercepted.

In a statement, the group said its vessel was "attacked/forcibly intercepted by the Israeli military … in international waters."

"The ship was unlawfully boarded, its unarmed civilian crew abducted, and its life-saving cargo — including baby formula, food and medical supplies — confiscated," the Coalition said.

Israel has "no legal authority to detain" the volunteers aboard the Madleen, human rights attorney and Freedom Flotilla organiser, Huwaida Arraf, said, according to The Guardian. 

Arraf added that the seizure is a violation of international law and goes against the International Court of Justice's (ICJ) "binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza."

The statement said Israel does not have the legal right to detain the volunteers, who are "not subject to Israeli jurisdiction and cannot be criminalized for delivering aid or challenging an illegal blockade."

"Their detention is arbitrary, unlawful, and must end immediately,” Arraf said.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, called on others to send aid vessels to Gaza.

"While #Madleen must be released immediately, every Mediterranean port should send boats with aid, solidarity, and humanity to Gaza. They shall sail together—united, they will be unstoppable," Albanese wrote on X.

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