The war ended long ago, and trucks carrying humanitarian aid, some of which also reaches Hamas, are entering Gaza in large numbers. But the anti-Israel activists who organized last year’s massive flotilla to “break the blockade” of Gaza are not standing down. On Thursday evening, they announced a new flotilla set to depart next month that they say will be twice the size of the previous one.
As with the earlier flotilla, which the Israeli Navy intercepted in October last year at the height of Yom Kippur, the new effort is being organized by the protest group the Global Sumud Flotilla. The October flotilla, which was preceded by two smaller sailings in June and July, involved 40 boats and ships. Israel detained 450 participants, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. They were later deported to their home countries.
Announcement of a New Flotilla to Gaza
(Video: Reuters)
The activists now say they intend for the new flotilla to include thousands of participants who will attempt to reach Gaza aboard about 100 different vessels. According to the organizers, the flotilla will include about 1,000 medical professionals, as well as engineers and what they describe as “war crimes investigators.” The ships are expected to sail from Spain, Tunisia and Italy.
No precise launch date has been announced. Activists say the flotilla will also be accompanied by an overland convoy. They expressed hope that the convoy would attract thousands more participants in countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, though it is considered highly likely that authorities in Cairo would prevent them from reaching the Gaza border in the Sinai Peninsula. Sumud said the initiative is intended not only to break the blockade and deliver what it described as life-saving humanitarian aid, but also to establish a sustained civilian presence in Gaza. According to the group, teams including medical personnel, teachers, engineers and unarmed civilian volunteers would work alongside Palestinians to help them cope with what it calls ongoing Israeli attacks and to begin rebuilding the health care system and basic infrastructure damaged over the past two years.
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Mandela’s grandson embraces an activist wearing a keffiyeh at the news conference
(Photo: REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)
Since the end of the war in October last year, under an agreement reached several days after the takeover of the previous flotilla, the volume of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza has expanded dramatically. The IDF said last month that about 4,200 trucks carrying food and fuel enter Gaza each week, a quantity Israel says far exceeds the needs of Gaza’s population. The aid flow has been accompanied by concerns that significant amounts reach Hamas and are used by the militant group to rebuild and reestablish itself. Anti-Israel activists, for their part, argue that the aid is insufficient. They also point to the fact that most of Gaza’s population is still living in refugee tents and that reconstruction following the widespread destruction of the war has yet to begin.
But the activists also acknowledge in their statements that their true aim is the overthrow of the State of Israel. The announcement of the new flotilla was made by the grandson of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first president after the fall of apartheid. The grandson, Mandla Mandela, who took part in the previous flotilla and was detained by Israel, said the goal of the new effort is to isolate Israel, which he described as an apartheid state. “We have come together in the Global Sumud Fleet because we recognize that, as a global collective, we can isolate the apartheid state of Israel, cause it to collapse and bring it to its knees — just as we did in South Africa,” Mandela said. He called on activists worldwide to sign up for the new flotilla, declaring, “Registration for Mission 2026 is now open.”
“This time we expect hundreds and thousands to register and mobilize to enter via Egypt, via Lebanon, via Jordan and via any other border possible for us to enter occupied Palestine and the Gaza Strip,” Mandela added. “We want to mobilize the entire international community to unite forces with us.”
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Greta Thunberg after being detained by the Israeli Navy during the previous flotilla in October
(Photo: X)
The news conference was held at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. During the event, activists acknowledged that their chances of actually reaching Gaza are slim this time as well. “We may not reach Gaza physically, but we will reach the people of Gaza,” activist Susan Abdallah said. “They know that we care, that we will not stop until we actually break the blockade.”
For now, it remains unclear which activists will take part in the new flotilla, if it goes ahead as planned. Thunberg has not yet said whether she will join it.