Hundreds of activists are sailing to Gaza on the Global Sumud Flotilla – and are expected to arrive at Gaza on Thursday, 2 October 2025 or shortly thereafter.
The Global Sumud Flotilla brings together 51 boats with 500 activists from 45 countries, which since Monday, 1 September 2025 have been sailing towards Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid.
The civilians on board include Ada Colau, former Mayor of Barcelona; Mandla Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s grandson; activists Greta Thunberg and Thiago Ávila, and British-Palestinian writer Kieran Andrieu.
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Attacks
Thiago Ávila wrote to his Flotilla comrades: “We keep on going for those who have no other choice in Gaza. Sailing with you as part of a global uprising has been the honor of my life.”
“What is happening in Gaza right now is unprecedented, and we do not accept this genocide,” affirms climate activist Greta Thunberg. “We do not accept the illegal occupation, the siege and the apartheid state.
“How can we expect a world that lets that happen? How can we expect that world to take a few steps back to prioritise ecology, or the future of our biosphere and living planet? There can be no climate justice on occupied land.”
The aim is to break the illegal siege on Gaza by sea, open a humanitarian corridor, and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.
The flotilla’s boats have already suffered 15 illegal attacks in international waters from unknown actors since the mission departed from Barcelona in Spain.
Genocide
Drones carrying stun grenades and itching powder attacked the flotilla in the international waters of Greece 13 times in a single night – Tuesday, 23 September. No one was injured.
The journalists, parliamentarians, humanitarians, doctors, artists, lawyers, and activists have held to their decision to sail together to Gaza to continue their peaceful mission.
In public statements, they repeat that the attacks on the flotilla are nothing compared to the violence imposed on the Palestinian people.
The Palestinians have for the past two years suffered a genocide perpetrated by Israel – as recently recognised by the United Nations. More than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed since 2023.
Humanity
Israel has tried to justify its threats by accusing the Global Sumud Flotilla of being a Hamas operation – a claim that is demonstrably false.
The love for humanitarian justice keeps activists united and firm in their purpose of breaking the blockade of Gaza, even while knowing the high risk of the mission.
The members of the Flotilla believe so strongly in this mission that it has led thousands of people around the world to believe in it too.
Mass protests and port blockades were held in Italy after the attacks on the flotilla boats. The protests led Italy and Spain to send navy ships to accompany the Flotilla. Guido Crosetto, the Italian defence minister, said the decision is not a provocation, but an “act of humanity”.
Hope
Since May 2025, peaceful pro-Palestine demonstrations demanding an end to genocide have taken place in many countries including Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, Kenya, Belgium, Senegal, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, the United States, Canada, Switzerland and Ireland.
The genocide in Gaza is fuelled by the machinery of war, which contributes to the global climate crisis.
The Global Sumud Flotilla embodies radical love, and sails on with courage and compassion, a vast act of humanitarian solidarity.
Under the gaze of the world, and shielded by Italy and Spain, they move towards Gaza to place hope, in the form of aid, into the hands of the Palestinian people.
This Author
Karina Miotto is an environmental journalist and the author of Changemakers: The Courage to Transform the World (available in Portuguese). She is a change maker mentor and deep ecology educator.
This article has been published through The Ecologist Writers’ Fund. We ask readers for donations to pay some authors £250 for their work. Please make a donation now. You can learn more about the fund, and make an application, on our website.