Madleen: Social media users slam Israel's 'mocking' of Gaza flotilla activists

The Israeli military seized a charity vessel carrying international activists attempting to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Monday.

Israeli soldiers boarded the Madleen and ordered the 12 international activists - including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and member of the European Parliament from France, Rima Hassan  - to throw their phones into the sea before filming themselves handing out sandwiches and bottles of water in a series of clips and posts shared on social media saying the "show was over".

Social media users slammed Israel's move as a political stunt and used its labelling of the humanitarian vessel as a "selfie yacht” in a series of social media posts to highlight selfies taken by Israeli soldiers while committing abuses in the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Several people shared widely circulated selfies and photos taken by Israeli soldiers themselves, some of which depict potential war crimes. Others responded to the Israeli government's posts with the hashtag #selfiegenocide. 

“Israel calls the Madleen a ‘selfie yacht’ while their soldiers snap selfies with war crimes. Hypocrites!” wrote one social media user. 

'Self yacht' pic.twitter.com/QUaEmjSlGy

— Colin Munro (@ColinM48126070) June 9, 2025

"Wild to go with the ‘selfie’ thing when your own cowardly soldiers have been uploading their war crimes to social media all through the genocide," another posted.

Several people criticised Israel for mocking a humanitarian mission and accused the government of staging the moment soldiers handed out sandwiches for propaganda purposes. 

"Israel is mocking a ship that is bringing humanitarian aid to a population that they are deliberately starving," posted one person. 

"Since the IOF (Israeli army) is putting out propaganda videos to show everyone 'hey look at how nice we are we gave them a sammie!' I’d like to remind everyone the reason the Madleen was going there in the first place was to break the siege on the Palestinians they’ve been STARVING FOR MONTHS!" another person added. 

Another said, “This was a humanitarian mission. Stopping a civilian aid boat in international waters is both illegal and immoral. Posting a video saying 'we gave them sandwiches and water, the show is over' is not diplomacy - it’s a PR stunt."

I thought Israel doesn't occupy Gaza and here it is deciding who and what can enter the borders of Gaza 🤔 Also it's actually a violation of international law to kidnap unarmed civilians. I mean it's not as if you care about law since you're starving 2 million people you keep…

— Isabelle (@Darkiora) June 9, 2025

Beyond social media, Madleen’s seizure has drawn condemnation from legal experts, rights groups and international observers.

Amnesty International's secretary general, Agnes Callamard, denounced Israel’s interception of Madleen as a “violation of international law”.

#Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), was seeking to bring humanitarian aid in an attempt to breach Israel’s illegal blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip. It was carrying unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission.

Israel interception of Madleen violates… pic.twitter.com/h5QvMeYVqk

— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) June 9, 2025

Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq condemned Israel's "unlawful interception" and demanded the immediate release of all detained activists, asserting: "Israel has no legal authority to restrict access to Palestine, since such is within the exclusive right of the Palestinian people." 

UK MP Zarah Sultana described the activists aboard the Madleen as “heroes”, calling Israel’s actions a “flagrant breach of international law” and urging the UK government to “sanction Israel, end all arms and surveillance deals, and expel its ambassador”.

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, said the UK government should take action to secure the British-flagged ship and called on "every Mediterranean port" to send boats with aid in an act of solidarity with Gaza. 

"They shall sail together—united, they will be unstoppable. #BreakingTheSiege is a legal duty for states, and a moral imperative for all of us," she said on X.