The Madleen when it left Sicily

Israel has begun to deport the detained crew members of the civilian vessel, which was intercepted in international waters by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) early on Monday morning.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said the ship was carrying a symbolic tonne of aid and that preventing the crew from delivering it to the people of Gaza was a violation of international law.

Some of the crew members, including Greta Thunberg, have agreed to be deported, while others who have refused are set to face deportation proceedings in the Israeli courts, according to the Israeli foreign ministry.

The Tánaiste said yesterday: “The Madleen was an effort to get food and medicine to the starving people of Gaza — an unarmed civilian effort in the midst of devastation and catastrophic humanitarian conditions.

“But it was much more than that — it was a powerful symbol of the urgent and essential need to end the blockade on humanitarian aid.

“What the flotilla has highlighted is the urgent need for humanitarian aid to get into Gaza. What has happened is another effort by the Israeli authorities to stop the entry of aid. It should not fall to any small group of civilians to get aid into Gaza.

“Ireland has consistently called on Israel to lift its blockade and allow unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza, in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles.

“The UN and humanitarian organisations must be allowed to work independently and do their job. It is a shame on the world and international community that people are starving in Gaza.”

He added: “The question we should be asking today is not a debate about the merits or not of the flotilla but how it has come to this — that the world is turning a blind eye to starving children in Gaza.”