Issued by the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC), with the support of Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice.

12 June 2025-The Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC), together with global feminist and social justice partners, unequivocally condemns the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for their violent interception of the humanitarian vessel Madleen and the detention of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) volunteers aboard.

This act is part of an ongoing and premeditated pattern of genocide against the Palestinian people. It represents not only a direct assault on humanitarian action and international law, but a continuation of Israel’s strategy of starvation, siege, and occupation. As feminists committed to justice, we denounce this escalation and stand in full solidarity with all those resisting the dehumanisation and destruction of Palestinian life.

The Assault on the Madleen: A Violation of International Law

The Madleen, a UK-flagged ship carrying humanitarian aid, sailed from international to Palestinian waters. Israel’s aggression against the vessel has no jurisdictional legitimacy and marks a dangerous precedent of criminalising solidarity. It is an attack on the very notion of a global conscience. As in the deadly 2010 flotilla raid, these acts violate international humanitarian law and aim to silence resistance through fear.

Our Demands

We call for immediate, coordinated, and sustained global action:

• End the Genocide: Halt all arms exports to Israel and open unrestricted humanitarian corridors to Gaza.
• Release the Detained: Demand the immediate, unconditional release of the remaining 8 detained FFC activists and the 10,400 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails.
• Enforce International Law: Support the issuance and enforcement of arrest warrants for all Israeli officials and military personnel implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
• Protect Humanitarian Action: Enable and defend humanitarian convoys, including Caravane Al-Soumoud, currently travelling by land through North Africa toward Gaza.
• End the Blockade: Close the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates as a displacement tool under the false pretext of aid.

The Feminist Struggle for Liberation

Our feminist struggle for gender justice is inseparable from the fight against genocide, apartheid, and settler colonialism. To be truly intersectional, we must confront the realities of state violence, occupation, and the machinery of impunity.

Our freedom is incomplete until Palestinians are free.

We call on all feminist, women’s rights, and human rights movements to act:

• Amplify the voices of Palestinian communities;
• Pressure UN bodies and state actors to uphold their legal and moral obligations;
• Join us in demanding accountability, protection of humanitarian actors, and the cessation of all violence against civilians.

Join the Call for Justice

We invite individuals, organisations, and states to endorse this statement and circulate it widely—particularly to the 47 members of the UN Human Rights Council and the 15 members of the UN Security Council.

📄 Click here to read and endorse the full statement.
🔗 Share on LinkedIn | Bluesky

In solidarity,
Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC)