Sumud Flotilla Coalition launches five ships from Greece to break Gaza blockade
The Sumud Flotilla Coalition announced on Wednesday the launch of five ships from a Greek island as part of a broader international effort aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip and confronting the impunity enabling genocide, starvation, and the systematic destruction of the Palestinian people.
In a press statement, the coalition said the five vessels, Adalah, Kyriakos X, Lina al-Nabulsi, Perseverance, and Tinez Love Aqsa Bangladesh, will join around 55 additional boats flying French, Italian, and Polish flags, departing from Marmaris, Türkiye, carrying symbolic amounts of food and medicine.
The coalition stressed that the “Sumud Flotilla” is not a humanitarian relief organization, but rather a direct action movement challenging the “cruel and illegal” naval blockade aimed at isolating, imprisoning, and oppressing Palestinians, while also confronting the international failure to stop Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
It noted that since 2010, the coalition has organized dozens of maritime missions in direct defiance of the Israeli blockade, building on the legacy of the Free Gaza Movement, which first broke the naval blockade in 2008.
According to the coalition, international participation in flotilla initiatives has expanded significantly following the voyage of the ship Madeleine in June 2025, reflecting growing global civil society opposition to government normalization with the blockade and genocide.
The coalition said the current phase of the mission comes after an Israeli attack on April 29 targeting 22 civilian vessels off the western coast of Greece, as well as the abduction and mistreatment of two organizers of the Global Sumoud Flotilla.
It added that organizers temporarily suspended sailing operations after the attack to assess security conditions and coordinate next steps, while affirming that the mission would continue despite escalating attacks and intimidation.
The coalition accused Israel and the United States of attempting to criminalize and discredit the Global Sumoud Flotilla through “baseless allegations” aimed at undermining civilian resistance and preparing public opinion for further attacks on the mission.
It said the release of organizers Saif and Thiago without charges exposed the weakness of those allegations, stressing that Israel and cooperating states know the flotilla is civilian, unarmed, and sailing in accordance with international law in defense of basic humanitarian rights.
The coalition emphasized that the flotilla goes beyond humanitarian solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, representing instead “an act of international civilian resistance” against settler-colonial violence and the global system supporting it.
It reaffirmed its commitment to continuing nonviolent direct action by sea and land to challenge Gaza’s closure and stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom, dignity, return, and self-determination.
The Sumoud Flotilla Coalition includes civil society organizations and grassroots initiatives from several countries around the world and has continued since 2010 to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza by sea.
The coalition also says its activities aim to support international law and advance Palestinian rights to freedom of movement, self-determination, and dignity, while confronting the complicity of governments, corporations, and institutions with Israeli occupation, colonialism, and apartheid.