Sumud, Largest Flotilla Bound for Gaza, Set to Depart

Volunteers from across the world have gathered in Spain to join the Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest coordinated sea mission yet to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s longstanding blockade. The gathering took place in the historic hall of Spain’s UGT labour union in Barcelona, once a center for international volunteers during the Spanish Civil War. Now, the venue has become the training ground for hundreds of international participants — including Palestine supporters, activists, journalists, and politicians — who have committed to nonviolent action as they prepare to sail toward Gaza.

Organiser Thiago Avila, a veteran activist for Palestine and environmental justice, told the assembled crowd: “We are not heroes. We are not the story. The story is the people of Gaza.” Their mission is clear: to deliver humanitarian aid, the flotilla’s only cargo, and establish a humanitarian corridor for Palestinians suffering starvation and mass killings under Israel’s siege.

Since the war escalated less than two years ago, Israel has killed more than 63,000 Palestinians, with tens of thousands more injured or missing. Around 26,000 people applied to join the flotilla, but only several hundred were selected to be on board roughly 100 boats. The flotilla will begin in Barcelona, sail to Tunisia to join more vessels, then proceed across the Mediterranean to converge with boats departing from Italy and other undisclosed ports before sailing in formation to Gaza.

The flotilla sails in dangerous waters. Since 2010, every freedom flotilla to Gaza has been intercepted or attacked by Israeli forces. In June 2025, the ship Madleen — carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg among others — was illegally intercepted in international waters 185km west of Gaza. In 2010, Israeli commandos raided the Gaza Freedom Flotilla of six ships, killing 10 activists and injuring dozens. Other attempts in 2011, 2015, 2018, and 2025 were blocked, including one vessel, Conscience, which was struck twice by drones near Malta.

Despite these risks, volunteers remain determined. Many who attempted to deliver aid during the earlier Global March to Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing have now regrouped, particularly in Tunisia, to join the Sumud flotilla. Delegations in Barcelona included participants from Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, and the US, reflecting the flotilla’s global support.

Training sessions in Barcelona were intense, preparing volunteers for scenarios such as interception in international waters, arrest, imprisonment, deportation, or violent assault. The organisers emphasized maintaining strict nonviolence in all circumstances. Every volunteer signed a code of conduct committing to peaceful resistance and rejecting systems of oppression. Workshops also revisited the history of nonviolent struggle, citing Mahatma Gandhi and Rosa Parks as examples.

Among the participants is Luna Valentina, a 24-year-old Colombian volunteer married to a Palestinian refugee. Having faced exile and racism herself, she described the solidarity she found during previous activism, joining again to support Palestinians.

As departure nears, Barcelona has become a center of solidarity, with a three-day festival of music, art, and Palestinian flags sending off the volunteers. For many, including Avila and an Australian mother of four, this mission represents not only humanitarian action but also a moral duty. Their hope is that the flotilla will reach Gaza’s shores to deliver aid and bring dignity to its besieged people.