Global flotilla to challenge Gaza blockade departs end-August

SINGAPORE: A massive civilian flotilla is set to depart for the Gaza Strip at the end of August in what organisers say will be the largest-ever attempt to break Israel’s blockade, which they claim has left the enclave’s entire population on the verge of famine.

Swedish climate justice activist Greta Thunberg shared on Instagram on 10 August that she and other campaigners will sail a flotilla loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza to break what she described as the “illegal Israeli siege”.

 

 

 

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“On 31 August we are launching the biggest attempt ever to break the illegal Israeli siege over Gaza with dozens of boats sailing from Spain,” she wrote. “We will meet dozens more on 4 September sailing from Tunisia and other ports.”

The initiative, dubbed the Global Sumud Flotilla, will mobilise activists from more than 44 countries, including the United States, Malaysia, Brazil, Italy and Sri Lanka. It will also feature simultaneous demonstrations in multiple locations.

Participants will include humanitarian activists, doctors and artists – among them US actress Susan Sarandon, Swedish actor Gustaf Skarsgård and Irish actor Liam Cunningham. The exact number of ships heading to Gaza has not been disclosed.

The Global Sumud Flotilla describes itself as an independent organisation unaffiliated with any government or political party. “Our allegiance is to justice, freedom, and the sanctity of human life,” the group says on its website.

Previous attempts blocked by Israel

Two earlier attempts to deliver aid to Gaza by sea – in June and July – were blocked by Israel.

In June, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) launched the civilian vessel Madleen from Catania, Sicily, carrying humanitarian aid and international human rights defenders, including Thunberg.

The mission aimed to deliver life-saving supplies and draw attention to what organisers describe as the “genocidal” and illegal siege of Gaza. Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen in international waters, seizing the boat and towing it to the Israeli port city of Ashdod. The activists on board were detained and later deported.

Israeli authorities dismissed the mission as a “selfie yacht” for celebrities and claimed it carried “less than a single truckload of aid”.

In July, the FFC launched another boat, the Handala, from Italy, just weeks after the Madleen’s interception. This vessel too was stopped by the Israeli military in international waters, with activists again detained and deported.

Famine risk in Gaza

Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that at least five more Palestinians, including two children, had died from starvation in the previous 24 hours.

According to Al Jazeera, this brings the total number of deaths from malnutrition since the start of the war to 217, including 100 children.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has reported that two of the three famine thresholds in Gaza have already been reached – plummeting food consumption and acute malnutrition.

One in three people is now going without food for days at a time, it said. Hospitals are overwhelmed and have treated more than 20,000 children for acute malnutrition since April.

The IPC has also warned that the entire population is facing high levels of acute food insecurity, with half a million people – one in five – facing starvation.

The conflict, which escalated on 7 October 2023, has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, including over 18,400 children, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.