BARCELONA, (The Palestinian Information Center) The “Global Sumud (Resilience) Flotilla” set sail from the Spanish city of Barcelona on Sunday in a new humanitarian solidarity initiative aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for years, which has intensified since last March.
The flotilla groups several international and humanitarian organizations, most notably the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Global Gaza Movement, the Convoy of Resilience, and Malaysia’s Nusantara Resilience Organization.
Participants finalized preparations to sail with dozens of ships loaded with humanitarian aid, joined by activists from 44 countries, along with European parliamentarians and public figures, including former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and Portuguese left-wing MP Mariana Mortágua.
The flotilla’s steering committee said that this step aims to open a safe humanitarian corridor to the besieged enclave and to exert international pressure to stop the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
It confirmed that parallel actions will be launched from Tunisia and other countries on September 4, coinciding with large-scale demonstrations in several countries around the world in support of the flotilla and the demand to end the blockade.
This initiative builds on the efforts of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition since 2010, when the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara came under a deadly attack by Israeli forces while attempting to break the naval blockade on Gaza.
Since then, attempts to break the siege have continued, including the ships al-Dhamir (Conscience), Madleen, and Handala earlier this year, all of which were attacked and seized by Israeli forces.
Since March 2, Israel has continued to close all crossings leading into the Gaza Strip, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, causing unprecedented levels of famine, according to UN agencies.
Although Israeli authorities have allowed limited quantities of aid to enter in recent weeks, they fall far short of minimum needs, while many aid trucks are looted by armed gangs operating under Israeli protection, according to governmental and human rights sources.
The United Nations recently declared famine officially in Gaza City, warning that it could spread to the central and southern parts of the Strip by September if the international community fails to take concrete action to contain the disaster and protect civilians.
