Sea conditions changed plans initially foreseen
The flotilla that on Sunday with the objective of arriving in Gaza follows the route planned by the Mediterranean, but without five of the smallest boats, because of the conditions of the sea, the organization said on Tuesday.
“Due to the extreme weather conditions of last night, five of our smallest vessels returned [a Barcelona] For security reasons, “said Global Sumud Flotilla in a statement.
According to the organization, all the people who followed these five vessels are fine and “the mission continues” with 19 of the 24 boats that left Barcelona and who will join others from other ports of the Mediterranean.
“We remain firm in our commitment to reach Gaza, to join the ships from Tunes, Greece and Italy, and remain united to break Israel’s illegal siege with a humanitarian and non-violent mission,” reads in the same statement.
Global Sumud Flotilla, which aims to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory of Gaza, initially left Barcelona in northeastern Spain on Sunday afternoon, but all boats returned to the city hours later because of a storm at sea.
The Humanitarian Fleet, which aims to be “the greatest humanitarian mission in history” with Gaza, came out again on Monday night at 20:20 places (19:20).
They are part of the Global Sumud Flotilla (“Sumud” is an Arab word meaning “resilience”) hundreds of people from 44 countries, including three Portuguese: the deputy and leader of the left block Mariana Mortágua, activist Miguel Duarte and actress Sofia Aparicio.
Another participant is Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who called for “resistance” from citizens “to failure” from governments to face “genocide” perpetrated by Israel in Gaza.
Thunberg herself announced the creation of the Flotilha on August 10 as “the biggest attempt to break Israeli illegal blockade to Gaza.”
Since then, Global Sumud Flotilla has received demonstrations of support from social activists, politicians and other international public figures, such as American actress Susan Sarandon and Irish actor Liam Cunningham.
The organization predicts that the trip to Gaza will take it to two weeks.
Israel has been ongoing a military offensive in the Gaza Strip since suffered an attack by the Islamist Hamas Group on October 7, 2023, which caused about 1,200 dead and 250 hostages.
According to data released by the Palestinian enclave authorities, Israel’s offensive in Gaza has made more than 63,000 dead.
On August 22, the UN officially declared hunger in the city of Gaza, after the experts warned that 500,000 people are in a catastrophic situation.
