Not plain sailing: The Global Sumud Flotilla, an independent, civilian-led coalition on a mission to deliver food and medical supplies to Gaza, has been attacked. Photo: Supplied
As the Global Sumud Flotilla approaches some of the Mediterranean’s most perilous waters, more than 50 boats are sailing through Greek territory under mounting pressure.
On board are over 500 people carrying food and medical supplies, determined to challenge Israel’s 18-year blockade of Gaza.
The fleet faces drone attacks, explosions, chemical sprays and jamming of communications, along with a political campaign to delegitimise it. Israel has branded the flotilla a Hamas operation, a charge that the organisers have dismissed.
Earlier this week, the flotilla reported one of its gravest encounters yet when 15 drones circled overhead and 12 explosions were heard across nine boats. Rigging was torn, sails shredded and crew sprayed with unknown substances while communications were jammed.
“Explosions, drones dropping objects on our boats and communications jamming — all aimed at intimidating us and stopping this humanitarian mission,” Saif Abukeshek, a member of the steering committee, said.
The latest assault followed earlier drone strikes in Tunisian waters and the risks have only grown as the fleet entered Greek territory, where the international dimension of the confrontation is impossible to ignore.
The context in Gaza makes the flotilla’s persistence urgent. The health ministry reports that the death toll since October 2023 has surpassed 65 000. That figure remains incomplete, as many people are still trapped under rubble, inaccessible to ambulance and rescue crews.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it said.
These figures only hint at the scale of devastation. Much of Gaza lies in ruins after nearly two years of bombardment. More than 80% of the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, many multiple times.
Families crowd into tents, schools and makeshift camps with no sanitation or clean water. UN monitors warn of famine spreading rapidly, particularly in the north, where households survive on animal feed ground into flour and children arrive at hospitals skeletal from malnutrition.
Doctors describe amputations performed without anaesthetic and babies delivered by torchlight.
The flotilla sails against this backdrop, a protest at sea against a humanitarian collapse on land.
International institutions have begun to respond to the attacks. Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, condemned the incidents, warning that vessels had been “hit with sound bombs, explosive flares and sprayed with suspected chemicals” and calling for immediate international protection.
The UN Human Rights Office said it was seeking an investigation, while humanitarian organisations stressed the assaults highlight the dangers civilians face when governments fail to uphold international law.
The mission has also drawn states into the fray. Yesterday, Spain and Italy dispatched naval ships to shadow the flotilla. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez confirmed that a vessel had left Cartagena to “assist the Gaza aid flotilla or carry out a rescue mission if necessary”.
His decision reflects both domestic and international pressures, including demands from coalition partners for stronger action on Gaza. Italy sent two ships, a move that followed weeks of mobilisation.
On 22 September nearly a million people joined a general strike in support of Palestine and the flotilla, shutting down ports and stations. Dockworkers vowed to halt operations if Israel attacked the flotilla and made good on that promise.
Activists argue this surge of civil pressure is what led to Italy’s decision to deploy naval vessels, even as its leaders remain cautious in diplomatic forums.
Israel has not claimed responsibility for the harassment but has intensified its rhetoric. The foreign ministry circulated images branding the boats a “Hamas Flotilla”, insisting the initiative is a jihadist enterprise.
Organisers rejected the allegations, stressing the flotilla is an independent, civilian-led coalition of NGOs, parliamentarians, doctors, clergy, artists, trade unionists and citizens from more than 40 countries. To suggest otherwise, risked laying the groundwork for violence against unarmed volunteers whose only aim is to deliver aid and challenge an illegal siege.
Human rights groups have echoed that view, noting that smears and restrictions on aid deliveries form part of a wider system of collective punishment in Gaza.
The confrontation at sea has found echoes in South Africa. Addressing the UN General Assembly, President Cyril Ramaphosa said there is a “growing global consensus that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza”, reinforcing both the findings of the UN’s Commission of Inquiry and South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice.
His words echoed the legal framing Pretoria has pursued since January, when it brought its case to The Hague. Yet at home, the unity of that stance has fractured.
Helen Zille, chair of the Democratic Alliance’s federal council, told a TV interviewer that “genocide is a very big word”. Her remarks, critics said, minimised findings by UN bodies and South Africa’s own legal case, drawing sharp criticism and highlighting the divisions within the government of national unity.
Opposition figures accuse the government of politicising the tragedy and risking diplomatic isolation.
Civil society groups have stepped into the breach. Trade unions, faith organisations, student movements and Palestine solidarity networks say the flotilla is part of South Africa’s moral duty to act against injustice. On 27 September, thousands are expected to march on Parliament in Cape Town to protest what organisers describe as genocide.
The six South Africans aboard embody this tension. Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, called the mission “an armada of liberation made possible because of all your efforts and the millions around the world who work diligently from the shadows”.
For those at sea, the dangers remain immediate. Drones circle, explosions rock fragile vessels and chemical sprays burn exposed skin. Yet the flotilla presses on, with participants firm that presence itself is a form of protection and solidarity.
What emerges is not only a test of endurance on the water but of political will on land.
A convoy sustained by ordinary people from 40 countries has transformed the sea into a stage where resilience challenges power directly.