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US President Donald Trump planned to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, a White House official has said.
Trump is reportedly looking to accelerate the delivery of aid into Gaza, and has been trying to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear programme.
The British government privately threatened to defund and withdraw from the International Criminal Court if it issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, Middle East Eye can reveal.
David Cameron, then foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, made the threat in April 2024 in a heated phone call with Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor of the court.
Less than a month later, Khan announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-defence minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif.
In a statement at the time, Khan called for his office and the court to be allowed to carry out their work with “full independence and impartiality”.
“I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this Court must cease immediately,” he said.
Read more: David Cameron threatened to withdraw UK from ICC over Israel war crimes probe
Amnesty International has branded the Israeli navy's interception of the Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen illegal.
"By forcibly intercepting and blocking the Madleen, Israel has once again ignored its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip," Amnesty said in a statement posted to its social media accounts.
"The crew were unarmed activists and human rights defenders on a humanitarian mission," the human rights group said, as it called on them to be "released immediately and unconditionally".
Amnesty said that rather than ensure, as the occupying power, that the people of Gaza had access to food, medicine and other supplies, Israel "consistently and deliberately impeded the provision of impartial humanitarian assistance for civilians in desperate need".
The rights group said that while the Madleen had "emerged as a powerful symbol of solidarity" with Palestinians in Gaza, "this very mission is also an indictment of the international community's failure to put an end to Israel's inhumane blockade".
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has said it is urgently working to locate the 11 international volunteers and one journalist "abducted" after the aid ship Madleen was "unlawfully boarded" by the Israeli military.
"According to the Israeli Immigration Authority, they are not in its custody," press officer Hay Sha Wiya said, adding that rights group Adalah has repeatedly contacted Israeli military officials but has yet to receive any response to its inquiries or letters since the early hours of the morning.
"The unarmed civilian crew was abducted, the Madleen seized, and the ship’s humanitarian aid, including baby formula, food, and medical supplies, also taken," the press officer said.
"We have not yet heard from the 12 people who were aboard the Madleen. Their whereabouts remain unknown."
Gaza's health ministry said that over the past 24 hours, 47 people were killed and 388 were wounded by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.
According to the statement, 54,927 people were killed and 126,615 were wounded in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023.
France said on Monday that it would work to ensure the swift return of its citizens who were aboard a boat carrying aid to Gaza and were intercepted by Israeli security forces.
"The President of the Republic has requested that our six French nationals be allowed to return to France as soon as possible," said a statement from the French presidency.
The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, has "requested to be able to exercise consular protection on their behalf", the statement said.
"Since we became aware of their plans, which we had warned them were risky, we have been in contact with the Israeli authorities to prevent any incident."
The French consulate has also requested to visit the group on arrival in Israel to assess their situation and facilitate their return to France.
At least 23 Palestinians have reportedly been killed by the Israeli army since dawn across the Gaza Strip, according to the Quds News Agency, citing health officials.
According to a medical source at the Baptist Hospital, 11 people were killed in the Israeli military's bombing of the Shuja'iyya and Zeitoun neighbourhoods.
We earlier reported that the Israeli military killed eight civilians who had been waiting to receive humanitarian aid at a distribution point in southern Gaza’s Rafah governorate, and injured dozens more near another aid site close to the Netzarim Corridor in the central part of the Strip.
The Prison Service is preparing to receive the Madleen activists and has prepared separate cells for them in Givon Prison in Ramle, Al Jazeera Arabic reported, citing Israel Hayom.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, ordered the banning of communication devices, radios, and televisions into prisons and a ban on any Palestinian symbols, the Israeli publication said.
Turkey slammed Israel for intercepting a Gaza-bound boat carrying activists, including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, early on Monday, describing it as a "heinous attack".
"The intervention by Israeli forces on the 'Madleen' ship.. while sailing in international waters is a clear violation of international law," it said, describing it as a "heinous attack" by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Israel’s aggressive and unlawful actions will not silence the voices that stand up for human dignity and universal values,” it said.
Regarding Israel’s Intervention Against the Vessel “Madleen” https://t.co/WeS8KGQFw7 pic.twitter.com/tANNLOqn5I
— Turkish MFA (@MFATurkiye) June 9, 2025
Wafa news agency is reporting that at least eight people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire again on aid seekers near a distribution point in southern Gaza’s Rafah governorate.
We earlier reported that dozens of people were also injured at an aid distribution centre near central Gaza’s so-called Netzarim checkpoint.
Israeli forces raided the the Gaza-bound Madleen aid flotilla in international waters on Monday and detained all 12 activists on board.
The crew members, including prominent Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, recorded videos before their abduction.
"The crew of the Freedom Flotilla was arrested by the Israeli military in international waters around 2 am," Hassan posted on X.
A photograph showed the crew seated on the boat, all wearing life jackets, with their hands in the air.
Before their arrest, crew aboard the Freedom Flotilla said that quadcopters surrounded the aid ship and sprayed it with a "white paint-like substance".
Read more: Madleen flotilla: Israeli forces raid Gaza-bound aid ship, detain activists
Hamas condemned Israel's seizure of Gaza-bound aid ship Madleen as "state terrorism" and said it salutes its activists.
"We strongly condemn the act of piracy committed by the Israeli occupation forces by intercepting the Madaleen solidarity ship in international waters as this is an act of state-sponsored terrorism," Hamas said.
"We salute the activists of different nationalities who affirmed that Gaza is not alone. The Madaleen and upcoming land convoys from Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, and elsewhere are living proof of the failure of Zionist propaganda."
An Israeli air strike on civilians near the aid distribution point in the west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, killed at least two people, according to health officials at the Nasser Medical Complex.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal and witnesses said the civilians had been heading to a site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Witness Abdallah Nour al-Din told AFP that "people started gathering in the Al-Alam area of Rafah" in the early morning.
"After about an hour and a half, hundreds moved toward the site and the army opened fire," he said.
At a charity kitchen in Gaza City, displaced Palestinian Umm Ghassan said she had been unable to collect aid from a GHF site "because there were so many people, and there was a lot of shooting."
"I was afraid to go in, but there were people who risked their lives for their children and families," she said.
Twelve international activists, including Greta Thunberg, recorded videos before being kidnapped by Israeli forces in international waters while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza as part of a Freedom Flotilla.
Activists from countries including Brazil, Germany, France, Turkey, and Spain also identified themselves, urging their governments to take action.
Among the crew were French journalist Yanis Mhamdi from Blast Media and Omar Faiad from Al Jazeera Mubasher, who were documenting the journey.
"If you're seeing this video, I've been detained by Israeli forces while performing my role as a journalist," Mhamdi said.
"I therefore ask my colleagues and the French government to expedite my release and return my camera equipment."
Palestinian rights organisation Al-Haq has strongly condemned Israel’s “unlawful interception” of the Madleen in international waters, calling for the “immediate release of all those detained”.
“Israel has no legal authority to restrict access to Palestine, since such is within the exclusive right of the Palestinian people,” the Ramallah-based rights organisation said in a statement.
"As people of conscience seek to demonstrate solidarity with and to provide vital support for the Palestinians of Gaza, third states must urgently ensure both that they are protected from the illegal violence of the Israeli state."
It continued: "Al-Haq urges states & intl orgs to ensure safe passage for the Madleen crew. Detained activists must be released & protected now. Let the #Madleen sail to Gaza."
— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) June 9, 2025
