The Sumud (Steadfast) Flotilla is less than 200 km away from the coast of Gaza, in the largest-ever civilian-led humanitarian aid effort by sea. The 50 boats and hundreds of volunteers on the convoy are carrying baby formula, medicine, water purification kits and other necessities for the people of Gaza, who are living under a starvation siege and bombardment campaign that has been going for 725 days.
Late Tuesday night, Israeli vessels came close to the Global Sumud Flotilla, with over 20 drones flying overhead. Flotilla participants say that the lead boats were approached by unlit vessels during the night, but that the vessels turned around and did not come close to the flotilla.
No ships have been boarded, but CCTV has been disrupted on several boats. Participants say they are preparing for interception by the Israeli navy.
However, as of Wednesday morning, the live feed from the flotilla shows no interception, and the boats are continuing toward the Gaza shore.
Among the participants in the aid flotilla are Amandla Mandela, the grandson of the late South African President (and former political prisoner) Nelson Mandela, and environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
The activists on board the flotilla have asked for all eyes to stay on them tonight as they near the danger zone. There’s a tracker here: globalsumudflotilla.org. And YouTube feed here: tinyurl.com/33v877d6.
Videos posted in the past day from the Sumud Flotilla:
Banias, a 9-year-old girl from Gaza, sends her message to the Global Sumud Flotilla:
The Israeli military has claimed that the flotilla has a ‘Hamas connection’ and that therefore the Israeli military should be allowed to attack the boats in international waters. But the ‘connection’ they claim is spurious at best (a 2021 letter from then-Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh acknowledging and thanking an international non-governmental organization, the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad, for supporting Palestine). This bizarre attempt to justify their blatant violation of international law is just the latest stunt by the Israeli government to attempt to justify their thousands of unjustifiable and illegal attacks against civilians in Gaza, and against international civilians attempting to help the people of Gaza.
