A statement from the organization of the Portuguese delegation indicates that the departure is scheduled for this week, with the journey across the Mediterranean Sea expected to last about two weeks, with arrival in Gaza expected by mid-September, carrying humanitarian aid.
“Recognizing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip – not only due to successive attacks on the Palestinian people but also the obstruction of access to humanitarian aid – the participants of the Freedom Flotilla are committed to trying to deliver more aid to the region. They also carry a message: genocide must end, the maritime siege of Gaza must cease, and a maritime corridor for humanitarian aid should be opened,” the statement notes.
The organization asserts that the ships participating in the mission have the right to freedom of navigation and humanitarian passage under international law, with participants protected by the Geneva Convention.
Given the “historical interventions of Israeli forces against such humanitarian actions, the Portuguese delegation has informed the Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of this mission.”
“The maritime blockade of Gaza is illegal. Delivering humanitarian aid is a moral imperative,” they claim.
In June, a group of activists with the same mission was intercepted by Israel
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was part of the Freedom Flotilla intercepted on June 8 by the Israeli army while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Of the 12 activists aboard the Madleen, a ship of the Freedom Flotilla aiming to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid to the enclave, four (including Thunberg) agreed to be deported after the Israeli army intercepted the ship.
The remaining activists refused to sign voluntary deportation and were detained and taken to court to ratify expulsion orders, as under Israeli law, when a person receives a deportation order, they are detained for 72 hours or more before being expelled from the country.
The sailboat docked in Israel at 8:45 PM local time, 4:45 PM in Lisbon. Activists say the food they carried on board was “confiscated.” Tel Aviv has stated that processes are underway for the activists to return to their country of origin.
Today, the organization stated that the Humanitarian Flotilla includes activists and volunteers from various countries, in dozens of boats from different ports in the Mediterranean Sea, “in a non-violent action aiming to demonstrate that civil society refuses to succumb to silence in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
The Global Sumud Flotilla brings together coordinators, organizers, and participants from the Freedom Flotilla, the Sumud Flotilla of the Maghreb, the Sumud Nusantara convoy, and the Global Movement for Gaza, as well as other international organizations.
Another ship from the Freedom Flotilla, the Handala, was also intercepted by the Israeli army on July 27.
One of the crew members of the Handala, Franco-Swedish MEP Emma Fourreau, wrote on the social network X that the ship was approached by the Israeli army 115 kilometers off the coast of Gaza, and the crew threw their phones into the water as a security measure.
Israel has been conducting a military offensive in the Gaza Strip since it suffered an attack from Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages.
According to data released by the Palestinian enclave’s authorities, the offensive launched by Israel in Gaza has already resulted in about 62,700 deaths.
