Overview

• The Madleen left Sicily on June 1 carrying Thunberg and 11 activists with a token cargo of milk and protein bars as it sails past Crete toward Gaza
• Brigadier General Effie Defrin warned the Israel Defense Forces are ready to intercept the vessel based on experience from previous flotilla operations and a May drone attack on a sister ship
• The Freedom Flotilla Coalition describes the voyage as a non-violent direct action aimed at challenging what it calls an illegal 17-year blockade of the Gaza Strip
• UN agencies have cautioned that Gaza faces potential famine amid shortages of food and medicine, and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation suspended aid deliveries after dozens were killed at distribution centres
• Britain, Canada and France have threatened sanctions and suspended talks with Israel unless restrictions on humanitarian relief to Gaza are lifted