A humanitarian flotilla of about 20 boats carrying food, water, and medicine departed Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday in the biggest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, as Palestinians in the besieged territory are starving to death every day.
The boats are the first to head for Gaza under the Global Sumud Flotilla and are expected to be joined by dozens more as they make the voyage. According to The Associated Press, Saif Abukeshek, a spokesman for the group, said the total number of boats could reach 70, and they are expected to reach Gaza by September 14 or September 15.
The flotilla marks the fourth attempt in 2025 to break the Israeli siege on Gaza, but it’s the first time this year that more than one boat will head to Gaza’s coast. The first boat to try to break the blockade this year, the Conscience, came under Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in May, halting its journey.
In June, another boat, the Madleen, made it close to Gaza’s coast before being boarded and seized by Israeli forces and taken into an Israeli port. The third boat, the Hamdala, was also captured by Israeli forces, and the humanitarian aid it was carrying was seized when it attempted to break the blockade in late July.
Back in 2010, Israeli forces raided six boats attempting to break the blockade on Gaza, and nine Turkish activists were killed on one of the vessels.
Thousands of supporters gathered at the pier in Barcelona on Sunday to bid farewell to the flotilla. Greta Thunberg, the well-known Swedish activist, is on board one of the boats headed to Gaza and spoke to the press before the departure. She previously attempted to break the Israeli siege on the Madleen.
“It has been very clear that Israel has been continuously violating international law by either attacking, unlawfully intercepting the boats in international waters, and continuously preventing the humanitarian aid from coming in,” Thunberg told the AP on Saturday.
The departure of the flotilla comes after the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) confirmed that famine is taking place in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City, where the Israeli military is escalating its genocidal assault.
