A 12 crew, including climate activist Greta Samberg, expects it will take seven days to reach Gaza.
The international nonprofit Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says it left Sicily to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza after previous attempts failed to attack another ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
A 12-person crew, including Swedish climate activist Greta Samberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and Franco Palestine’s Mep Lima Hassan, set sail from the port of Catania on Sunday to Madrien, carrying barrels of relief supplies called “limited amounts.”
The voyage comes after a conscience, another ship run by the group, was attacked by two drones just outside Maltese territory in early May. The FFC said Israel was to blame for the incident but did not respond to requests for comment.
“We’re doing this because no matter how much we oppose it, we have to continue to challenge ourselves. The moment we try to stop is when we lose humanity,” Thunberg told reporters at a press conference before leaving. Swedish climate activists were to board their conscience.
She added, “No matter how dangerous this mission is, it is not as dangerous as the world’s silence of life being slaughtered.”
🇵🇸🇵🇸~avec @gretathunberg Nous appelonsàlamobilization We are committed to bringing you the best in humanity! C’est Le Seul Moyen de Garantir Notre Sécurité. pic.twitter.com/5dujbkrdpz
– Lima Hassan (@rimahas) June 1, 2025
Activists expect it will take seven days to reach their destination.
The FCC, launched in 2010, is a non-violent international movement supporting Palestinians, combining humanitarian aid with political protests against Gaza’s lockdown.
The trip “is not charity. It is a non-violent and direct action to challenge illegal siege and escalating war crimes in Israel.”
Due to Israeli restrictions, law and order breakdowns, and extensive looting, it is extremely difficult for UN agencies and major aid bodies to provide assistance to the roughly 2 million residents of Gaza.
The situation in Gaza has been the worst since the Israeli-Hamas war began 19 months ago, the UN said Friday despite resuming limited delivery of aid in Palestinian enclaves.
Israel ended its 11-week lockdown in Gaza on May 19 amid rising global pressure, allowing very limited, unused operations to resume.
On Monday, a new path for aid also began. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, supported by the US and Israel, refuses to cooperate with the United Nations and international aid organizations, saying it has a distribution model that forces Palestinian displacement rather than neutral.
Israel vehemently denied that the FCC is the latest in the growing number of critics accusing Israel of being a genocide in the war in Gaza.
“We are breaking the siege of Gaza at sea, but that is part of a broader strategy of mobilising to break the siege on the land,” said activist Thiago Avila.
Avila also mentioned the global march to Gaza, an international initiative open to doctors, lawyers and media members. It is about to leave Egypt and reach the Rafa intersection in mid-June, hosting protests in Israel, calling for the Gaza attacks to be stopped and the borders resumed.
