Al Jazeera urges international intervention for immediate release of Madleen Gaza Flotilla passengers

Al Jazeera Media Network is profoundly alarmed by the imminent peril faced by those on board the Madleen Gaza flotilla, which was boarded and seized by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Gaza. The Network urgently calls upon the international community and governments to take immediate action to guarantee their safety.

Al Jazeera categorically denounces the Israeli incursion and confiscation of the vessel, and holds the Israeli authorities entirely responsible for the welfare of its journalist, Omar Fayyad, who was reporting live during the forcible capture of the ship.

The Madleen was destined for Gaza, bearing symbolic humanitarian assistance together with distinguished international activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French Member of the European Parliament.

Al Jazeera urges the pertinent international bodies and institutions to take all necessary steps to secure the immediate protection and release of all those on board the Madleen.

The Network calls for urgent measures to bring an end to Israel’s breaches of international and humanitarian law.

Al Jazeera reaffirms its commitment to press freedom and calls for the rights and safety of all journalists and humanitarian workers to be safeguarded.