Overview

• Israeli forces intercepted the Freedom Flotilla’s vessel Madleen in international waters on June 8 after it ignored repeated warnings to change course toward Gaza.
• Greta Thunberg accepted expulsion and flew back to Sweden, while eight activists including French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan remain in Israeli detention pending deportation hearings.
• The UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway imposed sanctions on ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich over their roles in escalating the Gaza conflict.
• At least 60 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on June 10, further straining Gaza’s humanitarian situation marked by severe shortages of food and medicine.
• Amnesty International and multiple governments characterized the interception as a violation of international law and called for unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.