[News] Global Sumud Flotilla vessels set sail for blockaded Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250914-global-sumud-flotilla-vessels-set-sail-for-blockaded-gaza/>
Global Sumud Flotilla vessels set sail for blockaded Gaza
September 13, 2025
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[image:
AA-20250913-39105319-39105305-GLOBAL_SUMUD_FLEET_SETS_SAIL_FROM_TUNISIA_TO_GAZA-1.jpg]
First vessel of the Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail from Binzert Port,
heading to Gaza to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid
in Bizerte, Tunisia, on September 13, 2025. [Mohamed Mdalla – Anadolu
Agency]

The first boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla departed Tunisia’s Bizerte
Port and Sicily’s Augusta Port towards the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip on
Saturday, organizers said, *Anadolu reports.*

A video shared by organizers showed one aid ship setting sail from Tunisia
toward the Palestinian enclave. Activists and journalists, including an
Anadolu correspondent, captured the moment of departure for the first
vessel.

A group of 18 boats from the flotilla’s Italian fleet also set sail on
Saturday from Sicily’s Augusta Port after a week of preparations.

“They will unite with the ships that are departing from Tunis today and
tomorrow, including those that first launched from Barcelona, meeting at
sea next week,” organizers said in a statement.

Several politicians, including a lawmaker from Italy’s main opposition
party, the Democratic Party (PD), Arturo Scotto, and European Parliament
member Annalisa Corrado, are onboard, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Another group of boats is scheduled to depart Tunisia and Greece on Sunday
towards Gaza, “where they’ll soon converge in international waters and sail
together in the largest maritime mission toward Gaza.”

*READ: UN rapporteurs urge Israel to stop threats against Global Sumud
Flotilla
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250909-un-rapporteurs-urge-israel-to-stop-threats-against-global-sumud-flotilla/>*

“The world is rising. We will continue to challenge Israel’s illegal siege
on Gaza and will not stop mobilizing until Palestine is free,” the
statement said.

The Gaza-bound flotilla includes nearly 50 vessels, carrying between 500
and 700 activists, including artists, parliamentarians, and prominent
political figures, from more than 45 countries.

The convoy is the largest of its kind to date, as previous attempts
involved single ships that Israel intercepted at sea.

Organizers say the goal is to challenge the blockade and open a
humanitarian corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians
in Gaza, where famine conditions have taken hold under Israel’s months-long
aid blockade.

The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip,
killing more than 64,800 Palestinians since October 2023. The military
campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for
its war on the enclave.

*READ: Journey of Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla ‘historic
responsibility’ says Greek activist
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250912-journey-of-global-sumud-humanitarian-aid-flotilla-historic-responsibility-says-greek-activist/>*
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