A flotilla bound for Gaza carrying symbolic aid and pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists set sail Monday from Tunisia after repeated delays, aiming to break Israel’s blockade. They will be joined by two ships that set sail Sunday evening from the Greek island of Syros to join the effort.
The two ships are set to join dozens of others that are sailing from Tunisia, Spain and Italy and are expected to arrive in Israeli waters in the coming days. The group of ships, called the Global Sumud Flotilla, is the largest yet seeking to defy Israel’s blockade and has the stated mission of bringing aid to Gaza.
It is also carrying a number of pro-Palestinian activists, including Sweden’s Greta Thunberg, and is seen as a challenge to Israel in the court of public opinion. Israel stopped a single boat carrying aid and a group of activists, including Thunberg, in June.
“We are also trying to send a message to the people of Gaza that the world has not forgotten about you,” Thunberg said before boarding in the northern Tunisian port of Bizerte. “When our governments are failing to step up then we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands.”
This attempt is much more extensive but has been beset by difficulties. First, inclement weather forced the boats back to port in Barcelona. Then, last week, the flotilla said it was hit by two suspected drone attacks in 24 hours. Tunisia called the reported attacks “premeditated aggression.”
On Monday, the flotilla set sail from Tunisia. Around 20 boats that had sailed from Barcelona converged in Bizerte, with the last vessels leaving at dawn, an AFP journalist reported.
Yasemin Acar, who helps coordinate the flotilla from the Maghreb, posted images on Instagram of boats also departing in the early hours.
“The blockade of Gaza must end,” and “We are leaving for solidarity, dignity and justice,” the caption said.
The vessels had transferred to Bizerte after a turbulent stay in Sidi Bou Said near Tunis.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said two of its boats were targeted by drone attacks on consecutive nights last week.
After the second incident, Tunisian authorities denounced what they called “premeditated aggression” and announced an investigation.
On Syros in Greece, around 500 people chanting “Free Palestine” gathered at the port of Ermopoulis to see off the two Greece-flagged boats, the Oxygen and the Ilektra, carrying goods for Gaza, along with five and eight people on board respectively.
“This is the way to show Israel that it shouldn’t have the right to impose starvation,” Kostas Fourikos, a 39-year-old crew member, told AFP. “And of course to send the message of solidarity to the Palestinians, who suffer so much.”
Greece’s islands have seen repeated anti-Israel protests in recent months. Along with Rhodes and Crete, Syros saw demonstrations rallying hundreds of people in July to prevent the Israeli cruise ship Crown Iris from docking.
Another crew member on the ships that departed Sunday, Angeliki Savvantoglou, said the flotilla aimed to “put pressure on our own governments to also stop collaborating with Israel and stop this genocide.”
In August, the United Nations officially declared famine in and around Gaza City, home to around a million people, where Israel is about to launch a major offensive aimed at conquering the city.
Israel has strenuously contested that determination, emphasizing that it makes efforts to deliver aid to Gaza’s civilians. It has accused the United Nations of delays in delivering aid and charged Hamas with stealing the supplies.
Israel likewise adamantly rejects the accusation that it is committing genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza, saying that it tries to avoid civilian casualties and that Hamas puts noncombatants in harm’s way.
The Global Sumud flotilla is the latest high-profile activist attempt to test Israel’s control of Gaza’s coastline. It describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party. Sumud is an Arabic word for “resilience.”
The boat carrying Thunberg in June was intercepted by Israeli forces and towed to port in Ashdod. The 12 activists on board were detained and then deported, with Thunberg claiming she was “kidnapped.”
Israel derided that boat as a “selfie yacht” and stopped another attempt in July. Blocking the group of ships now en route, however, is expected to be more complicated.
European Parliament member Rima Hassan, who, like Thunberg, was detained during the June attempt, said she feared further attacks.
“We are preparing for different scenarios,” she said, noting the most prominent figures had been split between the two largest coordinating boats “to balance things out and avoid concentrating all the visible personalities on a single vessel.”