Flotilla Files - Part 2
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July 27 2025. 40 nautical miles from Gaza. 21 activists detained. All deported. The same waters as 2010.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition's ship Handala departed Sicily on July 13 2025 carrying baby formula, food and medicine for Gaza. At 23:43 local time on July 27, Israeli forces intercepted the ship approximately 40 nautical miles from Gaza in international waters, cut the cameras and all communication, and towed the ship to Ashdod. 21 activists from 12 countries were detained. All were deported by July 31 2025. The cargo was seized.
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The ship · Named Handala · After Naji Al Ali · Departed Sicily July 13 202502 / 07
The ship was named Handala. After the barefoot child Naji Al Ali drew 40,000 times. Al Ali was assassinated in London in 1987.
Handala is the barefoot Palestinian refugee child created by cartoonist Naji Al Ali in 1969. The character is always shown from behind, watching the world with his back turned, refusing to look away until he can return home. Al Ali drew the character more than 40,000 times across 25 years. He was shot outside the offices of a Kuwaiti newspaper in London on July 22 1987 and died on August 29 1987. No one has ever been charged with his murder.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition named its ship the Handala as a deliberate act of documentation. The ship departed from the port of Syracuse, Sicily, on July 13 2025, carrying 21 activists representing 12 countries and a cargo of humanitarian supplies including baby formula, diapers, food and medicine for the population of Gaza.
Source: Freedom Flotilla Coalition statement, July 2025 · AFP, July 13 2025 · Adalah, July 2025
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The cargo · Baby formula, food, medicine · Non-military · Civilian · All seized03 / 07
Baby formula. Food. Medicine. All non-military. All civilian. All seized when the ship was taken to Ashdod.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition documented the Handala's cargo as baby formula, diapers, food and medicine. The coalition stated: "All cargo was non-military, civilian, and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade." The cargo was seized by Israeli authorities when the ship arrived at Ashdod port.
The Handala was the second Freedom Flotilla ship intercepted by Israel in 2025. The coalition's ship Madleen, which carried a group including climate activist Greta Thunberg, was intercepted earlier and also towed to Ashdod. In May 2025, the coalition's ship Conscience was bombed by a drone in international waters off Malta before it could depart. CNN reported on July 27 2025 that several crew members were injured in the Conscience bombing.
Source: Freedom Flotilla Coalition statement, July 27 2025 · CNN, July 27 2025 · Times of Israel, July 27 2025
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July 27 2025 at 23:43 · International waters · Cameras cut · Towed to Ashdod04 / 07
At 23:43 on July 27 Israeli forces boarded the Handala in international waters 40 nautical miles from Gaza. Cameras were cut. All communication was lost.
At 23:43 local time on July 27 2025, Israeli forces cut the cameras on board the Handala and all communication was lost. A YouTube livestream that had been running showed armed and helmeted personnel boarding the vessel while activists, wearing life jackets, stood with their hands in the air. The livestream ended shortly after.
The ship was towed to Ashdod port. Adalah, the Israeli legal centre for Arab minority rights, confirmed that the interception occurred in international waters and stated that "the activists aboard the Handala were part of a peaceful civilian mission to break through Israel's illegal blockade on Gaza." Israeli authorities initially refused to allow lawyers access to the detained activists. After persistent demands, access was granted on the afternoon of July 27.
Source: CNN, July 27 2025 · Adalah, July 27 2025 · Times of Israel, July 27 2025
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21 activists · 12 countries · European parliamentarians · All deported by July 3105 / 07
21 activists from 12 countries. European parliamentarians. Journalists. Doctors. All detained. All deported by July 31 2025.
The 21 activists aboard the Handala included members of the European Parliament, journalists, doctors and human rights defenders from 12 countries. Adalah documented that they were held in Givon Prison after being removed from Ashdod port. Several went on hunger strike in protest at their detention.
The last two detainees, Christian Smalls of the United States and Hatem Aouini of Tunisia, were deported on July 31 2025 after five days of unlawful detention during which they were on hunger strike. Aouini was received at the border by the Tunisian embassy. With their departure, all 21 activists had been deported and none remained in Israeli custody. Adalah, July 31 2025.
Source: Adalah, "Freedom Flotilla Boat Handala," updates July 27-31 2025 · Euronews, July 27 2025
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International waters · UNCLOS · Same legal question as 2010 · Unresolved06 / 07
2010: nine killed in international waters. 2025: 21 detained in international waters. The same legal question remains unresolved.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition stated that the interception of the Handala violated international maritime law. The coalition documented the ship's position as approximately 40 nautical miles from Gaza in international waters at the time of boarding. Adalah confirmed the interception was in international waters outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza.
Israel's foreign ministry confirmed that the navy had "stopped the vessel Navarn from illegally entering the maritime zone of the coast of Gaza," using the ship's original name. The legal dispute between the right to enforce a naval blockade and the right of passage in international waters is the same dispute documented in the 2011 Palmer Report. Fifteen years later, it remains unresolved at the level of binding international law.
Source: Freedom Flotilla Coalition, July 27 2025 · Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, July 27 2025 · Adalah, July 27 2025
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The question. Not a claim.07 / 07 · Series final
2010: nine killed. 2025: 21 detained. The cargo was baby formula, food and medicine. The ship never reached Gaza. What is the name for a legal framework that is documented and not enforced?
The Flotilla Files ends here. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has stated it will send another ship. The blockade has been in place since 2007. The harbour in this image is still waiting. The question is on the record.
Some stories are buried on purpose. We dig.
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