Middle East | Aid fleet sets course for Gaza

For four days, people from all over the world have been waiting in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, for the arrival of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which had been delayed due to bad weather. From Tunis, the ships, which departed from Barcelona on September 1st, will sail to Gaza with around a dozen other ships of the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla. The goal of the operation, which involves people from 44 countries, is to break the blockade of Gaza, which was imposed by Israel after Hamas's election victory and takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

"States, companies, and every individual must abandon their complicity in genocide," Greta Thunberg declared at the press conference shortly after her arrival. She also criticized international media coverage of the conflict. Thunberg held the press conference alongside Brazilian Thiago Avila, German activist Yasemin Acar, French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan of the left-wing La France Insoumise, and Wael Nawar of the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, surrounded by several thousand supporters of the mission.

Not all participants are undisputed

The members of the Global Sumud Flotilla are controversial in Germany. Thiago Avila is considered a supporter of Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist organization in Germany. Hassan and Acar are under fire for refusing to condemn the actions of Hamas, which is also classified as a terrorist organization, as the "Jüdische Allgemeine" reports. Meanwhile, Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, makes no distinction among the participants of the Global Sumud Flotilla and has now labeled them "terrorists."

In Tunisia, neither Hamas nor Hezbollah are viewed as problematic. However, unlike other pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Tunis in the past, no Hamas or Hezbollah symbols were seen this time, nor were any anti-Israel slogans heard.

In an interview with "nd," Rima Hassan, who is unable to participate in the trip this time, praises the courage and commitment of the Global Sumud Flotilla: "This is a mobilization never seen before. We are seeing a divide between the people and the governments all over the world. This is an action that citizens are taking into their own hands, even though it should actually be the role of states."

Eighteen people from Germany are also preparing for the trip to Gaza in Tunisia. They attended several training sessions in Tunisia, including behavior on the ship and anti-violence training. Besides medical supplies, they only have the bare essentials, says Sherif Zaki, a father of three from Munich who also plans to board. His family himself is from Palestine, and he says of his preparations: "I have mixed feelings. It's good to see how many people are involved with heart and courage. We have little official support in Germany, which is frightening. But it's our duty as a global community to do something about it."

Throughout Sunday night, more ships from the Global Sumud Flotilla continued to arrive. Among them was Egyptian director and writer Basel Ramsis, who lives in Spain and arrived on the ship Yolara with a crew of seven. As soon as he heard about the call to join the flotilla in mid-August, he submitted an application along with 35,000 other interested parties, he says. He was selected along with around 300 other people in a multi-stage application process. As the only Egyptian in the flotilla, he provides updates about the Global Sumud Flotilla on his Facebook account and in the independent Egyptian newspaper Minassa. "I have dedicated my life to the Palestinian cause for a long time," says Basel. "But I'm also afraid, afraid of Israel's reaction or the reaction of my country, Egypt." He says that it helps to counteract this fear by imagining himself in the harbor in Spain with friends in a few weeks.

Fear of Israeli repression

The participants' concerns are based on Israel's handling of previous flotillas: In 2010, a ship departed from Turkey, and the Israeli military killed eight crew members. In 2025, the ships Handala and Madleen also attempted unsuccessfully to reach Gaza with aid supplies. The Madleen's advance was coordinated with convoys attempting to reach Rafah by air and land from the Egyptian city of Arish. The land convoy, which departed from Algeria, was stopped by the Haftar government in eastern Libya, which is close to Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi. Those traveling to Egypt by air were sometimes violently prevented from participating by the Egyptian authorities.

If the current flotilla was hindered in its mission to break the siege, the European dockworkers, who had already undertaken other solidarity actions with Palestine and the flotillas, threatened to blockade the European ports.

It is important for the Global Sumud Flotilla to emphasize that the action is legal. On September 3, Hüseyin Dişli, Vice President of the Worldwide Lawyers Association, presented a legal analysis of the action at a press conference in Tunis, arguing for its legality. Francesca Albanese, the UN Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, who joined the event online, told the flotilla participants: "What you are doing is absolutely legal. Setting out on a peaceful mission to distribute aid to the Palestinian people, who are besieged and destroyed, suffering hunger and experiencing genocide, is a gesture of humanity."