The Portuguese delegation announced the departure of their initiative is scheduled for this week, with the journey across the Mediterranean expected to last around two weeks. They anticipate arriving in Gaza with humanitarian aid by mid-September.
“Recognizing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip—not only due to successive attacks against the Palestinian people but also because of impediments to humanitarian aid access—the participants of the Freedom Flotilla commit to trying to deliver more aid to the region,” the statement notes. “They also carry a message: genocide must end, the maritime blockade on Gaza must cease, and a maritime passage for humanitarian aid should be opened.”
The organization asserts that the ships participating in the mission have the right to free navigation and humanitarian passage under international law, with participants protected by the Geneva Convention.
Considering the “history of Israeli forces’ interventions against such humanitarian actions, the Portuguese delegation informed the Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs about this mission.”
“The maritime blockade of Gaza is illegal. Delivering humanitarian aid is a moral imperative,” they state.
In June, a group of activists with the same mission was intercepted by Israel
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was among those onboard the Freedom Flotilla intercepted on June 8 by the Israeli military as they attempted to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. Of the 12 activists aboard the vessel Madleen, which aimed to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to the enclave, four, including Thunberg, agreed to be deported following the ship’s interception by the Israeli army.
The remaining activists refused to sign voluntary deportation orders and were detained, brought to court to ratify expulsion orders, as under Israeli law, when someone receives deportation orders, they can be detained for 72 hours or more before expulsion from the country.
The humanitarian flotilla consists of activists and volunteers from various countries, traveling aboard dozens of ships departing from different ports in the Mediterranean. Their non-violent action aims to show that civil society refuses to remain silent in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the organization said today.
The Global Sumud Flotilla includes coordinators, organizers, and participants from the Freedom Flotilla, Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, Sumud Nusantara convoy, the Global Movement for Gaza, and other international organizations.
Another vessel from the Freedom Flotilla, the Handala, was also intercepted by the Israeli military on July 27. European Parliament French-Swedish MEP Emma Fourreau, aboard the Handala, later wrote on X that the vessel was approached by the Israeli military 115 kilometers off the coast of Gaza, and cast their phones into the sea as a security measure.
Israel is conducting a military offensive in the Gaza Strip after suffering an attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages.
According to data released by Palestinian enclave authorities, the offensive launched by Israel in Gaza has resulted in approximately 62,700 deaths.
