Photo of the Gaza-bound Madleen prior to its departure from Catania, Sicily on June 1, 2025. Photo: Tan Safi/Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Venezuelan government condemned this Monday the hijacking of the Madleen vessel, which was intercepted in international waters by Israeli occupation forces while transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a statement released by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on social media.
The text describes it as an act of piracy and aggression against international solidarity, which sought to deliver food, medicine, and hope to the Palestinian people.
In the early hours of June 9, 2025, Israeli forces intercepted the Freedom Flotilla vessel Madleen in international waters, carrying 12 activists on board on a humanitarian mission to Gaza. The flotilla denounced the incident as a “hijacking.” Communications were blocked, and the ship was then boarded. According to the activists, no one was injured.
Israeli Forces Attack Gaza-Bound Humanitarian Aid Vessel Madleen
The UN, Amnesty International, and the governments of Spain, Sweden, France, Turkey, and Iran condemned the operation, calling it piracy and a violation of international law. The UN and Amnesty International indicated that the vessel was transporting unarmed civilians and symbolic aid, and emphasized that Israel, as the occupying power, must guarantee access to food and medicine in Gaza, international media reported.
Below is the full text:
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly condemns the hijacking of the Madleen, intercepted in international waters by the Israeli occupation forces while transporting humanitarian aid to Gaza. This is an act of piracy and aggression against international solidarity, which sought to deliver food, medicine, and hope to the Palestinian people.
This latest outrage occurs within the framework of the ongoing genocide that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is carrying out with total impunity against the Palestinian civilian population. Israel is carrying out a planned and sustained massacre, protected by the complicit silence of the Western powers.
Preventing the entry of humanitarian aid is not only a violation of international law: it is part of the framework of systematic extermination that Israel imposes on a people who resist. Venezuela demands the immediate release of the kidnapped activists, an end to the blockade of Gaza, and an end to the criminal Israeli aggression against Palestine.
Caracas, June 9, 2025
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JB/SH
