New Delhi: Nearly 750 people have called on the United Kingdom government, through the British High Commission Offices across India, to facilitate the immediate and dignified release of the eight detained activists who had been on the Gaza aid ship Madleen, the return of the four ‘deported’ activists to resume their peaceful mission, an end to Israel’s illegal blockade, accountability for its genocidal war crimes and immediate, unhindered access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.The Madleen is a UK-flagged civilian ship which was forcibly intercepted by the Israeli forces in international waters on June 9. It was trying to take aid to Gaza.The signatories have been amassed by the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM), a coalition of grassroots movements in India and numerous other people’s collectives and concerned citizens, committed to justice and human rights.“The unlawful ‘boarding’ by Israel’s Shayetet 13 naval unit, detention of its 12 solidarity activists and humanitarian workers from multiple nations, including French MEP Rima Hassan and climate activist Greta Thunberg, and seizure of its cargo are flagrant violations of international maritime law, human rights, and such blockade of civilian-bound humanitarian aid constitute war crimes,” they said.Condemning the capture of the ship, the signatories wrote that the act is a mark of Israel’s “77-year pattern of defying international law and human rights since the 1948 Nakba, systematically exterminating Palestinians through mass displacement, killings, and erasure of their rights.”The letter says:As of June 10, 2025, four Madleen activists—Baptiste Andre (France), Greta Thunberg (Sweden), Sergio Toribio (Spain), and Omar Faiad (France)—have been deported, while eight—Suayb Ordu (Turkey), Mark van Rennes (Netherlands), Pascal Maurieras (France), Reva Viard (France), Rima Hassan (France), Thiago Avila (Brazil), Yanis Mhamdi (France), and Yasemin Acar (Germany)—remain detained at Ramleh detention facility, facing tribunal hearings. Israel falsely claims they “illegally entered,” despite their forcible abduction from international waters, imposing 100-year entry bans. The detainees are being put through physical and psychological trauma, chemical irritants, assaults, and unsanitary conditions, including bed bugs and undrinkable water, with Thiago Ávila on hunger and water strike since June 9. Adalah’s legal counsel argues the interception violates international law, demanding immediate release and return to the Madleen.It also essays allegations of torture, excessive force and allied worries that led to the filing of a war crimes complaint:The activists already undergoing torture as reported by one of the 4 who have returned – Omar Faiad and vulnerable to more as documented in Israel’s abuses of over 10,400 Palestinian detainees (UN, Amnesty International, Addameer, 2024–2025), assert their humanitarian mission to break Gaza’s illegal blockade, ruled collective punishment by the UN Human Rights Council (2024). MEP Rima Hassan’s detention and direct threats to her life made by the IOF may breach diplomatic immunity (Vienna Convention, Article 40; EU Protocol No. 7). Shayetet 13’s excessive force—tasering, chemical irritants—violates the Rome Statute (Article 8). The interception, 60 nautical miles off Gaza, breaches UNCLOS (Articles 87, 92), intensifying Gaza’s famine, where 500,000 face starvation.On 9th June, 2025, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a war crimes complaint with the UK Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit (SO15) against Shayetet 13 and Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, Israeli Navy commander, under the Geneva Conventions Act 1957, International Criminal Court Act 2001, and Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Section 134 on torture). The complaint alleges grave breaches of international humanitarian law, including denial of consular access, confiscation of humanitarian aid, and inhuman treatment, drawing parallels to the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, deemed unlawful by the UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/15/21). The Madleen’s operation complied with International Court of Justice orders (January, March, May 2024) for unimpeded aid access, which Israel’s actions violate, breaching Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention and ICRC Customary IHL Rules 55–56.The letter also observes the trajectory of violence which has been ongoing in the region:This follows the 2nd May, 2025, drone attack on the FFC’s Conscience, injuring four civilians, and the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid, killing 10 activists, both deemed potential war crimes by UN and ICC reports (2011, 2025). Israel’s violations—of the UN Charter (Article 2), UNCLOS, and Geneva Conventions—render international bodies like the UN and ICC impotent against its impunity, bolstered by wealth and power. The ICC’s 2024 arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, for war crimes in Gaza underscore this defiance.Israel’s war crimes, per 2024–2025 UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch reports, include: willful killing of 54,607 Palestinian civilians, including 16,500 children, as of June 4, 2025 (OCHA); torture and sexual violence against detainees; forcible displacement of 1.9 million Palestinians; starvation as a warfare tactic; indiscriminate attacks; extermination via healthcare destruction; and illegal West Bank settlements (Geneva Conventions, Article 49). The US-Israeli Gaza Humanitarian Foundation militarizes aid, forces displacement, and creates ‘death traps,’ killing Palestinians seeking food (OCHA, 2025).The letter then asks the UK to take a stand in this regar:The UK supports ICC investigations and prosecutes war crimes under the ICC Act 2001, including a 2025 dossier targeting Britons in Israel’s Gaza operations. As a UK-flagged vessel, the Madleen falls under British criminal jurisdiction, obligating the UK to investigate war crimes committed aboard, per the Geneva Conventions Act 1957. Yet, its response to Israel—May 2025 blockade criticism by Foreign Secretary David Lammy and trade talk suspension—is grossly inadequate. The UK’s arms exports enable Israel’s 77 years of atrocities, from the Nakba’s displacement of 700,000 Palestinians to Gaza’s ongoing genocide, mocking its justice commitments.The British Deputy High Commission in Israel has clear legal and diplomatic responsibilities: to intervene in the defence of the UK-flagged Madleen and its detained crew, in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (Article 5). This includes demanding accountability for their treatment, pressing the FCDO to act for the Madleen’s release, and supporting ICC/UN international war crimes investigations.The signatories urged the UK to hold Israel accountable to the full extent of their legal and moral responsibility, “and to act without delay in defence of the 12 activists who were unlawfully abducted and silenced for their solidarity.”These brave activists are doing what no international body or state has effectively done: directly confronting the illegal blockade to deliver aid to Gaza’s starving population. They cannot be penalized for upholding human rights that the international community has painstakingly defined and defended since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.NAPM and the signatories have asked the British High Commission, through its offices across India and its counterpart in Tel Aviv to:Secure the immediate and dignified release of the 8 Madleen activists, including MEP Rima Hassan, ensuring protection from torture and clarifying diplomatic immunities.Recover the Madleen and its cargo for Gaza’s urgent aid delivery.Support the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint, pushing for a UK criminal investigation into Shayetet 13, Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, and other senior military commanders implicated in war crimes in the Madleen, Conscience, and Mavi Marmara incidents, holding Israel accountable.Demand the lifting of Israel’s illegal blockade and ensure immediate, unimpeded access to all land and sea routes for humanitarian aid, dismantling the US-Israeli militarized aid model.Compel the UK to lead decisive diplomatic action to end Israel’s impunity and hold it accountable for genocide, aligning with its justice commitments.Urge the UK to champion EU naval escorts to protect humanitarian missions to Gaza, ensuring safe aid delivery against Israel’s aggression.The letter added that the UK’s obligation to uphold international law is absolute.Israel’s abduction of the Madleen activists, unlawful detention, and prevention of aid delivery demand unequivocal condemnation and strict sanctions on Israel, both by the UK and the international community. We condemn the horrific use of starvation as a weapon of ‘war’ by Israel and bombing at aid delivery centres.We urge you to initiate immediate action towards release of all those detained, uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza and an urgent investigation and accountability into the genocidal war crimes of Israel. We demand an end to the impunity being enjoyed by Israel, especially due to inaction by and complicity of the UK and other powerful governments.