Global Sumud Flotilla aims to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians

In July 2025, a new international maritime initiative was launched: the Global Sumud Flotilla. It was formed by four major coalitions: the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Maghreb Sumud Convoy, and the Southeast Asian Nusantara Sumud Initiative. The Global Sumud Flotilla is set to depart on August 31, 2025. Its goal is clear: to break Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza, to deliver urgent humanitarian aid, and to expose the genocidal war waged on Palestinians.

The flotilla is composed of dozens of small civilian vessels carrying activists, parliamentarians, doctors, and trade unionists, alongside humanitarian cargo. More than 39 national delegations have pledged participation, making this the largest people-led maritime effort in solidarity with Gaza since the 2010 “Mavi Marmara”.

Behind every flotilla passenger lies a story of conviction. Greek trade unionists brought banners pledging workers’ solidarity with Palestine. Doctors from Spain and Italy carried vital medicines banned from entering Gaza. Parliamentarians from South Africa and Norway insisted that breaking the siege is a moral and political duty.

This is not the first flotilla of its kind this year. The “Handala” and “Madleen”, two of the Freedom Flotilla’s flagship vessels, also set sail in an attempt to break the blockade of Gaza. However, they were attacked by drones and stormed by Israeli forces. Passengers were beaten, kidnapped, and deported. Phones were confiscated, activists were interrogated, and many went on hunger strike to protest their detention. The attack was not just on the Freedom Flotilla; it was an attack on the principle of global solidarity itself.

The Global Sumud Flotilla insists that its mission is entirely lawful under international maritime law. Civilian vessels carrying humanitarian aid in international waters are protected under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Israel’s interception of the “Handala” and “Madleen” constitutes nothing less than piracy and a war crime.

The flotilla’s organizers remind the world that Israel has maintained a land, air, and sea blockade on Gaza since 2007. As they prepared for upcoming missions, flotilla spokespeople declared:

“Our boats carry more than aid. They carry a message: the siege must end. The greater danger lies not in confronting Israel at sea, but in allowing genocide to continue with impunity.”

Criminalizing solidarity, violating international law

In recent months, Israel has escalated its campaign to silence international solidarity with Palestine by targeting civilian flotillas attempting to break the Gaza blockade. These ships, carrying activists, aid, and a message of defiance against siege, have become symbols of global resistance. Instead of engaging through diplomacy or respecting humanitarian principles, Israel has resorted to force on the high seas, treating peaceful civilian missions as military threats.

The assaults on the “Handala” and “Madleen” are more than acts of piracy, they are grave breaches of international law. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) guarantees freedom of navigation in international waters. By seizing vessels outside its territorial jurisdiction, Israel has acted as a rogue state.

International legal experts have consistently affirmed that the blockade of Gaza since 2007 constitutes collective punishment, violating the Fourth Geneva Convention. The International Criminal Court has received multiple submissions documenting Israel’s starvation siege, now exacerbated by open genocide. Yet governments that loudly invoke “rules-based order” remain silent when Palestinians, and their supporters, are the victims.

Instead of protecting citizens, western governments have facilitated Israel’s repression. Passengers aboard the flotillas were stripped of their phones, interrogated, and some were denied re-entry into the Schengen zone. Western states’ silence amounts to complicity.

Some detainees launched hunger strikes in Israeli prisons to protest their abduction. Others returned home to smear campaigns. Western right-wing media accused activists of “provocation” or of “endangering security”. Once-beloved Swedish activist Greta Thunberg who joined the “Madleen” flotilla, received attacks from mainstream media, on social media, and from influential political figures. Such tactics aim to delegitimize solidarity and sow fear among those who dare to act.

But these campaigns have failed to extinguish the moral clarity of the movement. From dockworkers in Barcelona refusing to load arms to Israel, to students occupying universities in the US and Britain, the flotilla has become a symbol: solidarity cannot be blockaded.

The human face of global resistance

The Global Sumud Flotilla represents a convergence of struggles across continents:

  • The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine mobilized thousands of activists worldwide.
  • The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, with roots going back to 2010, brings long experience of organizing maritime resistance. 
  • The Maghreb Sumud Convoy, launched in June 2025, gathered over 1,000 participants from across North Africa under the banner of “coordinated action for Palestine”.
  • The Nusantara Sumud Initiative, launched from Malaysia and eight other Southeast Asian countries, embodies South–South solidarity inspired by Palestinian steadfastness.

Together, these four networks transformed the flotilla from a handful of ships into a people-powered humanitarian corridor. The first official mission is scheduled for August 31, 2025, from Spain, followed by a second launch from Tunisia on September 4, with more than 50 ships expected to participate.

At a press conference in Tunis, organizers emphasized that the flotilla is not merely logistical, it is symbolic:

“This will not only be a fleet. It will be a reminder that the world is watching, that Gaza is not alone, and that peoples will not remain silent.”

The Freedom Flotilla is part of a long lineage of resistance at sea. The 2010 assault on the “Mavi Marmara”, in which Israeli forces killed ten activists, shocked the world. But instead of stopping solidarity, it multiplied it.

The Global Sumud Flotilla marks a new stage. By linking Mediterranean ports, North African caravans, and Southeast Asian convoys, it builds a transnational infrastructure of resistance. Its Arabic name Sumud, steadfastness, reflects both Palestinian resilience and the determination of people across the world to act where governments have failed.

Breaking the siege, building the future

The choice is now clear. Israel will continue to attack peaceful ships in international waters, abduct activists, and suppress humanitarian efforts, because the siege is a cornerstone of its genocidal project. Western governments will continue to look away.

But ordinary people, from Greek dockworkers refusing to load weapons for Israel, to Tunisian unions welcoming flotilla missions, to students and parliamentarians raising their voices, are building a counter-power.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is both a lifeline and a warning: Gaza will not be starved into silence, and solidarity will not be blockaded.

As the flotilla prepares to set sail with more than 50 ships, its message resounds across seas and continents: The siege must fall. Gaza must live. Palestine must be free.

Source: Peoples Dispatch

Photo: The Madleen before setting sail (Source: Tan Safi/Freedom Flotilla Coalition)

The Global Sumud Flotilla