Explainer: What to know about Global Sumud Flotilla's high-stakes mission to Gaza

By Humaira Ahad

Dozens of boats embarked from Barcelona to Gaza on Tuesday on a mission to break one of the world’s strictest and most inhumane blockades while carrying a message that the besieged and war-ravaged Palestinian territory must not be left to starve in silence.

This humanitarian caravan, known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, has been described as the largest maritime mission of its kind in decades, with more than 50 vessels and delegations from at least 44 countries expected to converge on Gaza’s waters in the coming weeks.

If successful, it would mark the first time in nearly 15 years that a flotilla has reached Gaza’s shores — amid the ongoing Israeli-American genocide that has claimed the lives of more than 63,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

However, as the mission gathers momentum, Israel has already begun manoeuvring to block its advance, issuing open threats to international activists on board.

“I wish the flotilla activists good luck staying alive,” Israeli ambassador to France Joshua Zarka said in an interview on Wednesday, echoing the rhetoric of top regime officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Military Affairs Minister Israel Katz, and other hawkish cabinet members of the genocidal regime.

“Morning update aboard our ship, as Isaac Herzog lands in Italy to increase bureaucratic warfare and psychological intimidation against the Global Sumud Flotilla… Israel is determined to stop our peaceful humanitarian aid mission, but we will continue forward,” wrote Quentin Quarantino, a social media influencer and flotilla participant, on social media.

Why is it called “Sumud”?

The choice of the word “Sumud” for the flotilla is deliberate. Meaning “steadfastness,” it is a central concept in Palestinian identity, symbolizing the refusal to surrender despite overwhelming odds.

By naming the flotilla after this principle, organizers signal that their mission is not just logistical but deeply symbolic. It is, they say, about linking the resilience of Gaza’s besieged population with a global movement of solidarity.

“This is the greatest historical call of our generation,” read a statement issued by the organizers. “And the people of the world will not fail to answer this call.”

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, voiced support for the flotilla:

“As the Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail to Gaza, may Gaza hear this collective cry: ‘Gaza, you are not alone! You have stirred the world from its deep sleep,’” she said.

Departure points and global scale

The first wave of boats departed from Barcelona on September 2, carrying activists, doctors, lawyers, clergy, artists, and seafarers, along with humanitarian aid supplies — after a two-day delay caused by stormy weather, according to organizers.

Other vessels departed from the southern ports of Zarzis and Djerba in Tunisia on Wednesday, sailing to Tunis to join the rest of the Global Sumud Flotilla.

Additional boats are expected to join the convoy in the central Mediterranean before charting a direct course to Gaza.

The flotilla has drawn delegations from across six continents, from Australia to South Africa, Brazil to the Netherlands, and Malaysia to Morocco.

Organizers say participation from such geographically and culturally diverse countries is meant to emphasize that Gaza’s plight is not merely a regional issue but a global moral question.

They also report that more than 6,000 activists worldwide registered to participate through solidarity encampments, training sessions, and onshore events shadowing the flotilla’s route. Their aim is to build a global movement that cannot be ignored by the international community.

Who are the participants?

The Global Sumud Flotilla presents itself as a grassroots, multinational coalition of civil society groups and individuals united by a shared conviction that the siege on Gaza is illegal and must end.

Among the organizers and steering committee members are prominent figures including Greta Thunberg, Swedish climate activist; Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela; Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author; Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate; Moncef Marzouki, former president of Tunisia; Brazilian socio-environmentalist Thiago Ávila; Irish actor Liam Cunningham; Spanish actor Eduardo Fernández; former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau; and Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua, among many others.

Organizers and flotilla members have highlighted the political principles behind their mission.

Italian steering committee member Maria Elena Delia said: “Palestinian people don’t need to be saved. They can save themselves. We are just listening to what they ask, and they are asking for their rights to be respected: the right to live, the right to eat, the right to move, the right to be free, the right to be free in dignity.”

For Palestinian activist and flotilla committee member Saif Abukeshek, those rights are inseparable from global accountability.

“Silence today is complicity in genocide,” he said. “Those who do not take direct, active steps to end the siege are complicit in these crimes.”

Threats to the flotilla

It has been 18 years since Israel imposed a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza, severely restricting the entry of food, fuel, medicine, and essential goods into the besieged strip.

Now, amid the ongoing genocidal war, the situation has reached catastrophic levels, with almost Gaza’s entire population gripped by famine as the Israeli regime weaponizes aid.

According to human rights experts, the Israeli blockade has turned Gaza into “the world’s largest open-air prison.”

For international activists, the siege has become a symbol of impunity and abandonment, as it persists despite repeated condemnations from the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations.

The same Israeli dynamic frames the Sumud’s encounters at sea.

“Last night, our boat, ‘Familia,’ was approached by multiple drones, as a likely combination of psychological intimidation and intel gathering,” Ávila said on September 2.

Meanwhile, the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) has expressed support for the flotilla’s mission.

Italian dockworkers in the Port of Genoa have warned they will strike in defense of the flotilla, an act that could significantly disrupt global shipping.

“If we lose contact with our boats for even 20 minutes, with our comrades, we will block all of Europe,” the dockworkers said.

Past flotillas attacked

In May 2010, the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish-flagged ship carrying more than 600 activists and humanitarian aid, was stormed by Israeli naval forces in international waters.

Israel killed 10 activists and wounded dozens more during the brutal military raid.

Subsequent flotillas in 2011 (Freedom Flotilla II), 2015 (Freedom Flotilla III), and 2018 (Just Future for Palestine) were all violently intercepted by Israel before reaching Gaza.

In 2025, following Israel’s geocidal war on Gaza, a new wave of attempts met similar fates.

In early May, the ship Conscience was struck by armed drones just 14 nautical miles off Malta, igniting a fire that nearly sank the vessel.

In June, the Madleen was intercepted 100 nautical miles from Gaza, deep in international waters.

More recently, in July, Israeli forces boarded the Handala, detaining all 21 activists onboard before deporting them to their respective countries.

The legal battleground

Sumud organizers are also making a legal and moral case. International law experts argue that Israel’s naval blockade constitutes collective punishment, explicitly prohibited under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

Albanese has stated that the flotilla’s mission “fully complies with international law.”

Human rights organizations have warned Israel that forcibly intercepting the flotilla in international waters would violate humanitarian principles and international law.

As the Global Sumud Flotilla sails into uncertainty, its activists say success will not only be measured by reaching Gaza but by every press conference, solidarity event, and even interception that forces the world to confront the ongoing genocide and humanitarian blockade.

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