A Gaza-bound aid ship carrying humanitarian supplies was reportedly sprayed with a mysterious white chemical by Israeli drones before being stormed by commandos in international waters, with activists describing burning eyes and obstructed vision.
The incident aboard the Madleen has drawn sharp condemnation from rights groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which accused Israel of deploying “chemical weapons” against peaceful activists in what it called an act of "international piracy and state terrorism."
The Gaza-bound aid ship—part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC)—was sailing toward Gaza when it was suddenly surrounded by Israeli drones and then by their forces in international waters on Sunday.
The Madleen, an 18-metre vessel, set sail for Gaza on June 1 from the Port of San Giovanni Li Cuti in Catania, Sicily, as part of the latest mission organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to break the Israeli blockade and deliver aid to starving Palestinians in Gaza.
A total of 12 people from different countries, including Baptiste Andre, Greta Thunberg, Mark Van Rennes, Pascal Maurieras, Reva Viard, Rima Hassan, Sergio Toribio, Suayb Ordu, Thiago Avila, Yanis Mhamdi and Yasemin Acar, were on board.
According to the organisers, the ship was carrying urgently needed supplies for the civilians of Gaza, including baby formula, flour, rice, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, medical supplies, crutches and children’s prosthetics.
As Israeli forces approached, activists said the vessel was sprayed with a white substance that caused confusion and restricted visibility. Within minutes, their communications were jammed, and disturbing noises blared over the radio.
A white substance was dropped by two drones hovering above the Madleen before communication with the ship was cut off, the cofounder of the International Solidarity Movement Huwaida Arraf told Al Jazeera.
“We know that they had two drones hovering above them that dropped some kind of chemical on the vessel. We don’t know what that chemical was,” she said. “Some people reported that their eyes were burning. Before that, they were also approached by vessels in a very threatening manner.”
Soon after, Israeli commandos boarded the ship and detained the crew. The activists, wearing life jackets, raised their hands in surrender. Before they were detained, a voice in the background ordered them to throw their phones into the sea.
In response to the Madleen attack, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a sharp condemnation. CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad stated: “We strongly condemn the cowardly and illegal Israeli attack on the Madleen as it approached Gaza with desperately-needed humanitarian supplies. This is a blatant act of international piracy and state terrorism.”
“The Israeli occupation has no legal right to blockade the Gaza coast, much less to drop chemical weapons on humanitarian aid boats and abduct their passengers in international waters. The Israeli government must account for and immediately release the Madleen and its humanitarian activists, lift its blockade of aid to Gaza, and end the genocide.”
While the Israeli government has not confirmed the nature of the substance, the FFC suggested it may have been a chemical deterrent, possibly a non-lethal incapacitant such as tear gas, skunk liquid, pepper spray or aerosol designed to disorient and subdue and used in crowd control.
This incident is not without precedent. In 2010, Israeli forces raided the Mavi Marmara, another aid ship, killing 10 activists. In 2018, flotilla ships were reportedly sabotaged before departure, and in 2021, Israel used foul-smelling skunk water on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Experts say the white spray appears to be psychologically intimidating, perhaps ensuring activists can’t document the interception.
