Six of Madleen detainees to be deported, two remain in Israel

Six out of the eight detainees from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the Madleen, who were detained early on Monday morning, boarded a flight at Ben-Gurion Airport for deportation, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, whose lawyers are representing the detainees, and the Foreign Ministry, announced on Thursday.

The group includes Mark van Rennes from the Netherlands, Suayb Ordu from Turkey, Yasemin Acar from Germany, Thiago Ávila from Brazil, Reva Viard from France, and Rima Hassan from France.

Adalah said its team had a hard time visiting the detainees at the airport.

Six more passengers from the ‘selfie yacht,’ including Rima Hassan, are on their way out of Israel. Bye-bye—and don’t forget to take a selfie before you leave. pic.twitter.com/Han9oQcTTc— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) June 12, 2025

Since their detainment, all were held at the Givon detention facility in Ramle. The other two, Pascal Maurieras and Yanis Mhamdi, both from France, are still being detained in Givon and are set to fly out later today.

“While in custody, volunteers were subjected to mistreatment, punitive measures, and aggressive treatment, and two volunteers were held for some period of time in solitary confinement. Adalah protested this inhumane treatment to the Israeli authorities and demanded that it cease,” the organization said.

Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. (credit: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS)

Activists intended to reach Gaza

The group of pro-Palestinian activists sailed out from Sicily on Saturday night with the intention of reaching the Gaza Strip. The flotilla carried a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

Per the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, 54,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military operations in October 2023, carried out in response to the Hamas massacre attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

One of the detainees was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who chose deportation and flew out, along with three other volunteers, on Tuesday.

According to Israeli law, people who have been issued deportation orders have 72 hours in detention before they are forcibly removed – unless they leave beforehand of their own accord.