The Israeli occupation forces attacked the “Handala” ship, which was carrying international activists and desperately needed humanitarian aid, on its way to the Gaza Strip, in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade.
A live broadcast showed the moment the Israeli occupation forces stormed the ship. The fate of the crew and the activists remains unknown after the live broadcast was cut off immediately after the raid. All 22 international humanitarians on board vowed to start an open-ended hunger strike if they were abducted by Israeli forces.
The ship had issued a distress call before the raid, after the Israeli Navy approached it.
This is the second ship this year to be sent by the Freedom Flotilla to try to break the Israeli siege on Gaza that has caused thousands of deaths from lack of medical treatment, preventable illness and starvation during the 22-months of Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Video footage captures the first moments of the Israeli navy’s assault on the Handala aid ship, which was carrying humanitarian supplies to Gazam a territory under Israeli siege and facing a famine unprecedented in modern times.
Israeli soldiers stormed the humanitarian vessel in international waters, abducted the activists onboard, and shut off the ship’s cameras.
Updated from:
Jul 26, 2025 at 08:41
After crew members on the ‘Handala’ humanitarian aid boat en route to Gaza reported a number of Israeli drones in the sky above the boat, the Freedom Flotilla coalition launched a live stream for people around the world to track the boat as it approaches Gaza:
The Freedom Flotilla posted, “After drones repeatedly hovered over the ‘Handala’ last night, we need people of the world to help tag and email their foreign ministry. The volunteers aboard are delivering life-saving aid to Gaza. They are unarmed, carrying only food, medicine, and baby formula, and acting fully within international law.
“It’s time for world governments to step up. Demand they protect their citizens aboard the ‘Handala’ and stop enabling Israel’s war crimes.
“Safe passage is a legal obligation, and a moral one.”
The Handala launched from an Italian port on July 20th, when the coalition released this statement:
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) announces that Handala, our civilian aid boat, launched today from Gallipoli, Italy, beginning the final leg of its journey to Gaza. This marks a determined step in our ongoing effort to confront and break Israel’s illegal and deadly blockade of the Palestinian people in Gaza. Handala carries life-saving humanitarian aid and a message of solidarity from people across the world refusing to stay silent as Gaza is starved, bombed, and buried under rubble.
SUSPECTED SABOTAGE JUST HOURS BEFORE DEPARTURE
Just hours before launching, Handala was the target of two deeply alarming incidents that appear to be deliberate sabotage intended to obstruct our mission and harm our crew.
On the night of July 19 or early morning July 20, a rope was discovered tightly wound around the boat’s propeller. This could not have occurred through normal use or by accident. It was a direct threat to the safety of our vessel and its ability to sail.
Even more dangerous, on the morning of July 20, the truck sent to deliver fresh water to our boat for washing and cooking on the journey, carried not water, but sulfuric acid. It splashed on a crew member’s leg, causing chemical burns. Another crew member who smelled the substance and opened the container sustained burns to his hand.
We have video footage of the individuals who delivered this dangerous substance. We call for an immediate investigation and full accountability for these acts.
Despite this suspected sabotage, we remain undeterred. The attempt to harm our team and silence this mission will not succeed.
This mission comes just weeks after Israel’s illegal attack on the Madleen, another Freedom Flotilla boat, which was violently seized in international waters. Twelve unarmed civilians—including a Member of the European Parliament, a doctor, journalists, and human rights defenders—were abducted by Israeli commandos and forcibly taken to Israel, where they were interrogated, abused, and then deported. Their only “crime”? Attempting to bring food, medicine, and solidarity to Palestinians under siege.
Handala is part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a grassroots international network that has been sailing against the blockade since 2010. On board are volunteer medics, lawyers, social justice activists, journalists, and community organizers. We are not governments. We are people, taking action where institutions have failed.
“The Flotilla is a collective act of conscience,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney, co-founder of the Interntional Solidarity Movement and Freedom Flotilla steering committee member. “We are everyday people from around the world standing together to confront Israel’s ongoing war crimes and to affirm the right of Palestinians in Gaza to live with freedom and dignity.
For the Children of Gaza
Named after the Palestinian cartoon figure Handala, a barefoot refugee child who turned his back on injustice and vowed not to turn around until Palestine is free, this boat carries his spirit and that of every child in Gaza who has been denied safety, dignity, and joy. In 2023 and 2024, Handala sailed to ports across Europe and the UK, breaking through the media blockade and building global solidarity through public events, art installations, and political education.
The children of Gaza, who make up more than half the population, have lived their entire lives under blockade. Since October 2023, over 50,000 children have been killed or wounded, tens of thousands orphaned, and nearly a million displaced and homeless. Now, famine, disease, and trauma threaten every aspect of their survival.
This mission is for them.
We Will Not Be Silenced
We sail for the children of Gaza—for families who are enduring siege, starvation, and slaughter while governments of the world participate or do nothing. We sail to break Israel’s illegal blockade and deliver life-saving aid, solidarity, and hope to a people abandoned by our governments but never forgotten by us, the people, who believe in justice and will never stop fighting for it.
We call on the international community, human rights organizations, and people of conscience everywhere to condemn these acts, demand accountability, and ensure safe passage for the Handala—a civilian boat carrying medicine, baby formula, and stuffed animals for the children of Gaza.
