{"id":49604,"date":"2025-10-01T18:19:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/49604\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:19:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:19:14","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-flotilla-seeking-to-break-israels-blockade-of-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/49604\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 A flotilla carrying activists seeking to break Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza<\/a> was on alert after it was approached by military vessels as it sailed Wednesday closer to the besieged Palestinian territory<\/a>. The activists said they expect Israeli authorities to intercept them<\/a>, as has happened in past flotilla attempts to reach Gaza.<\/p>\n

Spain and Italy<\/a> had sent navy ships to escort the flotilla for a part of the journey, but urged activists to turn back and avoid confrontation with Israel. <\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Global Sumud Flotilla said two of its vessels were harassed by two Israeli warships overnight, jamming their communications but stopping short of intercepting them.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about the flotilla.<\/p>\n

The flotilla\u2019s goal<\/p>\n

Organizers say about 50 small vessels with around 500 activists from dozens of countries are taking part in the flotilla, which is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid \u2014 mainly food and medicine \u2014 for Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The 23-month war has led to a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory that has seen much of it reduced to rubble. The world\u2019s leading authority on the food crisis has declared famine in Gaza\u2019s largest city.<\/a><\/p>\n

Activists hope their actions will focus attention on the plight of Palestinians. They say the flotilla is the largest attempt to date to break Israel\u2019s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has now lasted 18 years, long predating the current war.<\/p>\n

Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas<\/a> from importing arms, while critics consider it collective punishment.<\/p>\n

The boats\u2019 journey<\/p>\n

The core vessels set sail from Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 1, heading east across the Mediterranean Sea<\/a>, and have been joined by boats from other countries along the way.<\/p>\n

The flotilla includes a few motherships that provide support and provisions for the smaller sailboats.<\/p>\n

Among the participants are Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg<\/a>, former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau<\/a>, Mandla Mandela<\/a>, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, and European lawmakers. Organizers say delegates from 46 countries had committed to participating, with activists including military veterans, doctors, clergy and lawyers.<\/p>\n

The bulk of the flotilla was sailing in international waters north of Egypt on Wednesday morning, and had crossed into the so-called \u201cdanger zone\u201d where Israeli authorities have stopped previous flotillas.<\/p>\n

If undisturbed \u2014 though that was unlikely \u2014 the organizers said they would reach Gaza shores on Thursday morning. <\/p>\n

Drone attacks<\/p>\n

Organizers say the participating boats were targeted three times by drones: twice in Tunisia, on Sept. 8 and 9,<\/a> and once while sailing south of Greece last week.<\/p>\n

In that last attack, the flotilla said it was targeted during the night by \u201cunidentified drones and communications jamming.\u201d Activists said \u201cat least 13 explosions\u201d were heard on and around several flotilla boats, while drones or aircraft dropped \u201cunidentified objects\u201d on at least 10 boats. <\/p>\n

No casualties were reported, but there was damage to the vessels and \u201cwidespread obstruction in communications,\u201d it added. Thunberg said attacks would not deter them.<\/p>\n

Israel vows to block the boats<\/p>\n

Israel has said it has no problem with Italy and Spain sending rescue ships to accompany the flotilla, but criticized the aid initiative and accused some leaders of the flotilla of being linked to Hamas, an accusation the activists strongly reject. <\/p>\n

Israeli authorities warned the boats would not be allowed to reach Gaza.<\/p>\n

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea stipulates that a state only has jurisdiction up to 12 nautical miles (19 kilometers) from its shores. In general, states don\u2019t have the right to seize ships in international waters, though armed conflict is an exception to this. <\/p>\n

Whether the blockade is militarily justified and the legality of the blockade is a point of contention. Rights groups have long criticized the blockade as unlawful collective punishment against Palestinians. <\/p>\n

Lawyers advocating for the flotilla say the civilian unarmed group does not pose security threats and that the passage of humanitarian aid is protected under international law. <\/p>\n

Spain and Italy are nearby with navy ships<\/p>\n

Though Italy and Spain sent military ships<\/a> to help with possible rescues, their governments have since urged the flotilla not to breach the Israeli naval blockade. Italy\u2019s premier warned the activists on Tuesday that their attempt risks becoming a pretext to destroy U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s proposal for resolving the war in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rome has been working for weeks to find an alternate solution to get the aid to Palestinians, including an offer \u2014 rejected by the flotilla organizers \u2014 to bring the aid instead to Cyprus and have the Catholic Church deliver it.<\/p>\n

The flotilla said that amounted to \u201csabotage\u201d of their humanitarian mission. <\/p>\n

In a statement, the flotilla said the Italian government seeks to \u201cescort us only to the point of danger and then try to peel us away, delivering us back to shore empty-handed, as Israel continues to slaughter and starve the Palestinian people with complete impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe say again: the flotilla sails onward,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

The United Nations, the EU and others warn against use of force<\/p>\n

The U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan called for an investigation, while the European Union also warned against the use of force. \u201cThe freedom of navigation under international law must be upheld,\u201d said Eva Hrncirova, a European Commission spokesperson. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A boat that is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla departs to Gaza to deliver aid amidst Israel\u2019s blockade on the Palestinian territory, in the Tunisian port of Bizerte, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/Anis Mili)<\/p>\n

A boat that is part of the Global Sumud Flotilla departs to Gaza to deliver aid amidst Israel\u2019s blockade on the Palestinian territory, in the Tunisian port of Bizerte, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. (AP Photo\/Anis Mili)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

In a post on X, Colombia\u2019s president Gustavo Petro on Tuesday demanded \u201cabsolute respect for the lives and integrity of the more than 500 civilians and volunteers on board this humanitarian mission,\u201d which includes two Colombian citizens. <\/p>\n

It is not the first time activists trying to break Israel\u2019s Gaza blockade have come under attack.<\/p>\n

Another vessel said it was attacked by drones in May<\/a> in international waters off Malta. An overland convoy traveling across North Africa<\/a> also attempted to reach the border but was blocked by security forces aligned with Egypt in eastern Libya.<\/p>\n

In 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara, a boat participating in an aid flotilla attempting to breach the maritime blockade of Gaza. Nine Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American on board were killed. The last time an activist boat succeeded in reaching the strip was in 2008. <\/p>\n

The current war<\/p>\n

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 others hostage. Israel says its offensive is aimed at pressuring Hamas to surrender and return the remaining 48 hostages, about 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive. Most of the rest were released in ceasefires or other deals.<\/p>\n

The Israeli offensive has killed at least 66,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were civilians or combatants, but says around half were women and children. <\/p>\n

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government. Its figures are seen as a reliable estimate<\/a> of wartime deaths by U.N. agencies and many independent experts.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nicole Winfield in Rome and Suman Naishadham in Madrid, Spain, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 A flotilla carrying activists seeking to break Israel\u2019s blockade of Gaza was on alert…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[120,2037,38309,38306,54,22892,38310,9281,69,122,3063,37483,51,85,119,46,1984,61,2971,38307,2034,38308,43,2727,35312,121,126],"class_list":["post-49604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","tag-activism","tag-ada-colau","tag-blockades","tag-donald-trump","tag-drones","tag-eva-hrncirova","tag-foreign-aid","tag-gaza-strip","tag-general-news","tag-greta-thunberg","tag-gustavo-petro","tag-hamas","tag-il","tag-international-agreements","tag-israel","tag-israel-government","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-italy","tag-italy-government","tag-mideast-wars","tag-nelson-mandela","tag-news","tag-spain","tag-spain-government","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}