Master Mariner Madeleine Habib will lead the Freedom Flotilla Coalition aboard the vessel Conscience from Italy toward Gaza on 1 October 2025.
The ship is carrying approximately 100 volunteers, including medics and journalists, along with a significant amount of aid and food intended for the people of Gaza. The flotilla’s mission comes amid high-level diplomatic efforts to prevent a potentially dangerous confrontation with the Israeli Navy.
Madeline Habib speaking today in a video post.
I’m Madeline Habib from [Tasmania] Australia, here on the bridge of the Conscience, the vessel that we’re sailing to break the siege of Gaza here with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, we’re doing the job that our government should be doing.
We’re sailing for the freedom of Palestinian people. We’re not doing this because we want to we’re doing this because our governments refuse to act. It’s not enough to simply recognise the state of Palestine. Palestine exists. What we need is freedom for Palestinian people. We need access to health care, which is why we’re sailing with a ship full of doctors and medical aid, full of journalists who have been targeted in this genocide and we’re here to do what we can to show the world that the actions of a few committed people do have the power to change what’s happening in the world.
Below is a translation of an article that appeared today in La Stampa* regarding a possible mediation between Italy and Israel regarding the approach to the flotilla. *Italian daily newspaper.
Media release – Freedom Flotilla Coalition, 30 September 2025
Israel’s first opening to Italy “Order not to use lethal force”.
Ambassador Ferrari meets with President Herzog. Tel Aviv – but do not violate the naval blockade
Unable to predict what scenario will unfold, with terror marking the passing hours, the last diplomatic card available to the Italian government, once it received the response that the Global Sumud Flotilla will continue its journey to Gaza, was to formalise high-level contacts with Israel. These contacts have actually been ongoing for days, but now it is essential to make them public in an attempt to avert a potential tragedy.
The Italian ambassador to Tel Aviv, Luca Ferrari, was received yesterday by the President of the Republic of Israel, Isaac Herzog.
On behalf of Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antenin Tajani, the diplomat conveyed sincere concern about what might happen to the flotilla once it reaches the Israeli naval blockade. In Rome, they fear the worst.
This is demonstrated by the agitation of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, who has been informed by military and intelligence leaders of the possibility of a new attack in the next 24-48 hours, launched—as has already happened twice in the last twenty days—with the aim of dissuading activists from approaching the war zone further.
The government knows full well that it will never get Israel to agree not to intervene if the ships try to break through the security cordon imposed on Palestinian waters off Gaza since 2009. What Italy has done is to sound out the intentions of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, to understand how far the IDF’s reaction would go and to ask them to bear in mind the real level of threat represented by a humanitarian mission, with parliamentarians on board the ships, Herzog assured Italy that the Israeli army had been given orders not to use lethal force and confirmed his willingness to avoid endangering the lives of the sailors.
Obviously, these are reassurances that will be tested at the time and which have the major limitation of having to deal with unpredictability. Because, while it is true that the Israeli president has given assurances that no shots will be fired, it is also true that he added that the armed forces have been instructed to intervene to prevent any attempt to break the blockade. It is very likely that they will do so with a boarding operation, as happened in June with the ship Madleen, on board which were environmental leader Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan. The ship was seized and the activists taken ashore and detained.
This time, however, it is not just one ship bound for Gaza.
The flotilla is large, and for days now, everyone in the government has been thinking about the tragic precedent of 2010, when an attempt to transport humanitarian aid and emergency supplies to Gaza after Operation Cast Lead, which had the Strip in a stranglehold, ended with nine victims.
Nine plus one, who later died from his injuries. They were all Turkish passengers on the Mavi Marmara, members of a humanitarian association. Autopsies in Turkey showed that eight of them were hit by 9mm bullets. A few days earlier, the organisers of the Freedom Flotilla had announced their intention to force the blockade and Israel responded that it would not allow this, offering instead access to the port of Ashdod, on Israeli territory and the transfer of aid to Gaza. This is precisely what Tel Aviv has proposed in recent hours.
Fifteen years ago, the day that ended with nine victims began with the boarding of five of the six ships. For this reason, Palazzo Chigi and the Farnesina believe it is important to highlight the commitment made by Herzog.
In return, Rome, specifically Crosetto, has declared the plan and the rules of engagement entrusted to the Italian Navy ship Alpino, which is following the humanitarian vessels.
A liaison officer has been seconded to the Operations Room of the Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Unit, in liaison with the Navy. Every day, the frigate will issue an invitation to the activists to return.
The final warning will be issued when the Alpino is 100 nautical miles from Gaza. At that point, the border beyond which the Israeli blockade will be violated will be indicated and escort to the nearest port will be offered. If the flotilla refuses the invitation to stop, a scenario of total danger will ensue. The government has confirmed that the Navy ship will not react to IDF military actions, even for defensive reasons. It will only offer search and rescue assistance, but will provide it to everyone, regardless of nationality, in accordance with the law of the sea. This is one of the reasons why several other European countries have contacted the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Herzog represents the moderate wing of the Jewish state’s institutional leadership, which is dominated by the right. He has an excellent relationship with Tajani and took advantage of his meeting with Ambassador Ferrari to thank the government and Italian President Sergio Mattarella for mediating the compromise proposed by the Vatican.
The hope, which was not made explicit yesterday but is shared with the Italian government, is that there is still a chance to divert the aid that would be taken over by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem to Cyprus or elsewhere, without coming into direct contact with the Israeli military.
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