The journey to Gaza through the Mediterranean has ceased to be calm for the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF). At 02:03 in Spain, through its Telegram channel, the mission communicated what had been anticipating: “We are on a maximum alert. We have entered the high -risk area, the area where it has been attacked or intercepted aforementioned above. They remain alert.” At that moment, the ships were 150 nautical miles, about 270 kilometers from the strip, just at the limit that the Netanyahu government has declared as an exclusion zone in international waters.
After a couple of hours sailing, the tension has increased again in the roofs. The organization has denounced that several unidentified vessels have approached the Gaza flotilla with the lights off, which has forced them to activate the security protocols “in preparation for an interception.” Minutes later, those ships have moved away without contact, but the notice has already turned on all the alarms. At the same time, the GSF has reported an “increase in drone activity” that have flown over the ships, confirming that Israeli surveillance on the mission has intensified.
Israeli radio Can He has reported that the army has prepared to intercept the more than forty ships of the flotilla and lead them to the port of Absod, in the center of the country. There, according to those sources, passengers will be questioned to then launch the deportation process, as has happened in similar precedents. That horizon has marked the countdown of a peaceful and humanitarian mission that, to each mile, has seen the risk of an assault on the high seas.
The most remembered precedent remains that of the Freedom Flotilla of 2010, when the Israeli assault against the Mavi Marmara ship left ten activists dead in international waters and caused a diplomatic crisis with Türkiye. Since then, Tel Aviv has systematically responded to these types of initiatives, claiming that the blockade on Gaza is a security measure against Hamas. The GSF, on the other hand, considers it a “collective punishment” forbidden by international law.
Spain asks for prudence
The Spanish Government has confirmed that the Maritime Action Ship Furor, of the Navy, is already “on the operational radio to perform rescue operations if necessary”. Moncloa, however, has drawn a red line: the ship will not enter the exclusion zone marked by Israel. “The flotilla mission is commendable and legitimate, but the lives of its members have to be above,” said executive sources, which have “strongly” recommended not to advance beyond that limit.
The flotilla response has been immediate. In a statement, the GSF has accused the Spanish government of “giving up offering them the necessary protection.” And he added: “By action and omission, the Spanish government becomes an accomplice of what may happen.” The organization has also reproached Madrid to “endorse Israel’s impunity” and support “Donald Trump’s neocolonial plan”, referring to Washington’s historical support to the blockade.
The deployment of the fury has been interpreted as a limited gesture. According to the flotilla itself, the ship navigates “at medium speed” and will not reach the area until Wednesday at noon “in the best case.” “This could be late, when Israel has committed another act of piracy in international waters in the face of the passivity of governments,” said the GSF.
Rome has also opted for a secondary role. The Alpine frigate, sent as support, has reported that it will issue a last call on the night of October 1, when it is located less than 150 miles from Gaza, to offer the crew the possibility of abandoning the mission.
The flotilla has loaded against that decision with hard words: “This is cowardice disguised as diplomacy. If Italy really would like to protect lives, I would not be acting as a facilitator of Israel or press civilians to retire.” Criticism has gone further, accusing the Giorgia Meloni government of sabotaging the mission: “We want to make it clear: this is not protection, it is sabotage.” For the organizers, the maneuver is equivalent to escorting them to the point of greatest danger and then disregarding, a gesture that they describe as “complicity.”
Calculated risk
The Global Sumud Flotilla departed at the beginning of September from Ports of Spain and has joined vessels from Tunisia, Italy and Greece until the broader maritime mission organized to date is formed: more than forty ships and around 500 volunteers. Its declared purpose is to break the Israeli block over the Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid directly to the civilian population.
In parallel, other ships have followed the wake. This Tuesday has sailed from anothernto, Italy, the Conscience, which months ago was attacked with drones in Malta waters, to join the eight ships that make up the last edition of the Fleeta de la Libertad. This international movement, born in 2008, has promoted a dozen missions towards Gaza, almost all intercepted by Israel before reaching destination.
Activists have repeated that they are aware of the risks. “We all know what a mission implies like this, but it is much more dangerous to remain silent in the face of genocide, famine and collective punishment to navigate transporting humanitarian aid,” they said.
The immediate horizon has not been encouraging: drones flying, unidentified ships around its edges and an army that has declared it ready for interception. In spite of everything, the journey has moved on. For the GSF, each mile traveled is a complaint against international inaction and a reminder that, in front of the blockade, civil society has assumed the risk of navigating where the states have retracted.
