New flotilla carrying 1,000 anti-Israel activists departs from Spain for Gaza Strip

More than 70 vessels carrying over 1,000 people set out from Barcelona, bound for Gaza, as part of the latest anti-Israel flotilla.

By World Israel News Staff

A Gaza-bound activist flotilla departed from Spain on Wednesday after rough weather postponed its planned launch earlier this week, with organizers saying the convoy will expand as it moves east across the Mediterranean.

Nearly 40 boats left Barcelona at the start of the voyage, while additional vessels are expected to join from other ports en route.

The effort is being organized by the Global Sumud Flotilla, which says that over 1,000 participants from multiple countries are involved in the naval effort.

Activists say the boats are carrying limited aid supplies and are intended to challenge the security blockade on Gaza.

The flotilla had been scheduled to leave days earlier, but organizers said sea conditions forced a delay.

Thiago Ávila, one of the campaign organizers, said the group initially had to hold back from entering international waters because it could not do so safely.

“Due to weather conditions, our mission will sail from this port today, but will not be sailing to international waters because we cannot make this journey safely today,” he said earlier in the week.

Organizers said the current departure marks only the first phase of the operation.

Some of the boats are expected to regroup at another Mediterranean port before continuing onward.

Reuters reported that additional vessels are expected to join later in the journey.

Participants framed the mission as a political statement as much as an aid delivery attempt.

Saif Abukeshek, a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, said the voyage was meant to create pressure for a humanitarian access route into Gaza.

“We sail because governments have failed,” he said. “We refuse to be that society.”

Supporters gathered in Barcelona before departure, including actor Liam Cunningham, who backed the campaign.

“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,” he told Reuters.