New Gaza aid flotilla sets sail from Spain, trying again to break Israeli blockade

Leaving Barcelona, Global Sumud Flotilla says it ‘aims to open a humanitarian corridor’ to the Strip; last several attempts have all been intercepted by Israel

A new flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza was due to set sail on Sunday from the Spanish port of Barcelona, aiming to try to break the Israeli blockade on the coastal Palestinian enclave.

Thirty-nine boats were due to leave the Mediterranean port city, a spokesperson for the flotilla said, and more vessels also laden with medical aid and other supplies are expected to join along the route towards the Gaza Strip.

Rough seas mean the flotilla will sail to another port then head out to international waters later in the week, Thiago Avila, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s organizing committee, told a press conference on Sunday.

The campaigners, who last year organized a similar flotilla carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid, have described the upcoming mission as the biggest civilian-led mobilization against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Israeli officials repeatedly denounced last year’s mission, and previous smaller-scale attempts to reach Gaza by sea, as publicity stunts.

The flotilla seeks to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and unload aid in the war-torn territory to help the civilian population. Israel has said previous flotillas have brought insignificant amounts of aid, insisting that it allows sufficient amounts of aid to enter the Strip, though humanitarian organizations have said the amount entering is still insufficient.

The boats are expected to sail from Spain, Tunisia, and Italy toward Gaza.

Liam Cunningham, an actor who starred in the Game of Thrones television series, and who is supporting the flotilla but not taking part, told Reuters: “Every kilogram of aid that is on these ships is a failure because all these people on these ships giving up their time to help their fellow human beings are doing what their governments are legally obliged to do.”

“This is a mission that aims to open a humanitarian corridor so the aid delivery organizations can arrive,” Saif Abukeshak, a Palestinian activist and member of the flotilla’s organizing committee, told Reuters.

Swiss and Spanish activists on last year’s flotilla said they were subjected to inhumane conditions during their detention by Israeli forces — an allegation that was rejected by an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson.

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since the Hamas terror group seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup.

Israel said it was necessary to limit Hamas’s ability to smuggle in arms. Critics of the blockade said it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.

The Israeli military halted a previous flotilla assembled by the same organization last October as the boats attempted to reach Gaza, detaining and deporting Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and hundreds more participants.

The mission mobilized about 500 activists and 50 vessels, all of which were intercepted by Israeli forces before they reached the Strip.

Israel has come under huge international pressure over the war, which started on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 72,000 people in the Strip have been killed during the war — including over 600 since the October 2025 ceasefire — though the toll does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every dead terror operative.