Activist group says Israel accuses Madleen crew of entering Israel illegally

Israel is handling the custody of all 12 members of the Madleen aid flotilla that was intercepted by Israel as though they had entered illegally, even though "they were forcibly abducted from international waters and brought into Israel against their will", according to a statement by Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC).

FFC confirmed the names of four crew members who have been deported as Baptiste Andre and Omar Faiad from France, Greta Thunberg from Sweden and Sergio Toribio from Spain. Each of the volunteers was given two options: sign documents consenting to deportation, or remain in detention and appear before a tribunal. 

"All of them explicitly disputed the claim of unlawful entry in writing, affirming that Israeli law does not apply to them, that their mission was humanitarian in nature, and that both the boat’s interception and their detention are illegal," a statement by FFC said.

Lawyers from the Adalah legal centre were able to meet with 10 of the 12 "abducted" the statement said, adding that two of the 12, Omar Faiad, a journalist with Al Jazeera, is represented separately through legal counsel arranged by the network and Yanis Mhamdi, a journalist from Blast Media in France, is represented by private counsel.

Legal counsel will argue that the interception was unlawful, the detentions arbitrary, and that the volunteers must be released without deportation, FFC said.