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Adalah Demands Immediate Release of 21 Activists Aboard the Freedom Flotilla Boat ‘Handala’, Unlawfully Intercepted by Israeli Forces

27/07/2025
 
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel has sent an urgent legal letter to Israeli authorities demanding information on the whereabouts of 21 activists—including journalists and parliamentarians—who were forcibly detained after Israeli naval forces unlawfully seized the Handala, a vessel sailing as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC).
 
Israeli forces intercepted the Handala in international waters at around midnight (Israel time) on 27 July 2025 and contact with the activists was lost. This peaceful civilian mission was dedicated to the children of Gaza and named after the Palestinian national symbol Handala, created by political cartoonist Naji al-Ali, who represents a barefoot refugee child who turned his back on injustice and vowed not to face the world again until Palestinian refugees are allowed to return to their homeland. This ship, which sailed as part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC), is part of the coalition’s ongoing efforts to break Israel’s illegal and deadly blockade on the Palestinian people in Gaza, amid the ongoing genocide and deliberate starvation imposed on Gaza’s population. For a list of participants, see: https://freedomflotilla.org/2025-handala-participants/
 
The flotilla never entered Israeli territorial waters, and nor was it intended to do so; it was headed toward the territorial waters of the State of Palestine, as recognized under international law. Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority over the international waters in which the vessel was sailing. See videos of the interception here: https://t.me/FFC_official_channel/743
 
Israel’s interception of the Handala and arrest of peaceful, unarmed activists delivering humanitarian aid is in violation of international law. Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza constitutes prohibited collective punishment and flagrantly violates the ICJ’s provisional measures in the genocide case (South Africa v. Israel). Activists have a legitimate right to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza’s starving civilians. The Handala was unarmed, carrying only life-saving aid, food, baby formula and medicine. According to the FFC, it was sailing close to 40 nautical miles from Gaza when intercepted. 
 
Based on past experience, the Israeli navy tows intercepted Freedom Flotilla vessels to Ashdod port and detains the activists, often for many hours without disclosing their whereabouts, legal status, or allowing access to legal counsel.
 
A total of 21 people were on board the Handala, including two journalists and two parliamentarians, from 10 different countries. Adalah demands the immediate disclosure of the activists’ location and legal status and for them to be allowed access to legal counsel to enable legal representation before Israeli authorities and tribunals. Adalah will take necessary legal action to secure the activists’ safety and release.