Gaza Aid Flotilla Approaches Danger Zone

The Global Sumud Flotilla is just a day away from reaching the ‘orange zone’, 150 nautical miles off the coast of Gaza, where there is a high risk of interception by Israel. 

Organisers say 42 boats and 532 participants began the final leg of their journey on Saturday evening after several days of delay. But the lead ship, Family, which suffered catastrophic engine failure off the coast of Greece on Thursday, had to be left behind.

Novara Media contributor Kieran Andrieu, who was on board, is now reporting from a different boat, which he said is making good progress through international waters.

He expects to reach the area where Israeli forces have previously illegally intercepted boats – including the Madleen and the Handala, earlier this year – in international waters by Tuesday night. 

If the flotilla is not intercepted, it could reach Gaza by Thursday. 

On Monday morning, a flotilla boat was evacuated by the Turkish Red Crescent after it started leaking, taking the total number sailing together down to 41, with four more hoping to catch up, including two that are on their way from Turkey.

Navy ships sent by Italy and Spain have been travelling with the flotilla since it left Greek waters. But when the leaking boat was evacuated, journalists sailing with the flotilla noticed a new frigate on the horizon. It was later reported that Turkey had sent its navy to facilitate a Red Crescent operation to distribute additional humanitarian aid to the flotilla boats, and then responded to a mayday call from the ship that was in trouble.

This comes after flight data revealed that Turkish military aircrafts have been monitoring the flotilla, and amid speculation that a joint naval exercise run by Egypt and Turkey in the Mediterranean sea last week was timed to send a message to Israel.

Italy and Spain have both stressed that they will not confront Israel if the flotilla is intercepted, but are there to protect their citizens on board. Turkish authorities said later on Monday that their boats had only provided temporary assistance and would not accompany the flotilla any further.

Yet the presence of several foreign navies already appears to have acted as a deterrent to attacks. After drone strikes last Tuesday night, the flotilla entered Greek waters for safety and stayed there until Saturday, with some organisers claiming they believed a more serious attack was imminent. Participants prepared to face regular drone strikes for the rest of the journey. But on Sunday, the flotilla spent a full night in international waters for the first time since the attacks, and it passed without incident. 

Engine failure on Family.

Most of the 30 or so participants on board Family were reallocated to other boats on Friday and Saturday and are still sailing, but at least three left the mission entirely because no suitable alternative was offered, or they were unhappy with how the situation had been handled.

Organisers, meanwhile, moved on to Alma, the largest boat, which has Greta Thunberg and steering committee member Yasemin Acar on board.

Andrieu said his new boat, Adara, is a Spanish-flagged sailing yacht with 22 other people on board, including elected politicians from Argentina and Spain.

Palestinian-French MEP Rima Hassan, who was also on Family, is now on a small boat called Captain Nikos, which is believed to have joined the flotilla at the weekend.

Some people moved off Alma to create space for others, including Irish comedian Tadhg Hickey, who is now on the Meteque, a boat which sailed from Tunisia.

The cause of the engine failure on Family, which had not previously had any serious mechanical issues and was operated by an experienced captain and crew, has not been identified. There are credible concerns that it may have been sabotaged, but initial investigations were inconclusive. 

A Turkish engineer sent to determine the cause of the failure told Drop Site News that when he inspected the engine, he found that “all the oil was gone”, but he did not say what might have caused this.

Meanwhile, back in Tunisia, more concrete evidence of foul play has emerged. Authorities announced that a foreign national has been charged in relation to the drone strikes on boats Family and Alma earlier this month. Counter-terrorism police are investigating possible links to Mossad.

A new flotilla.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is no longer the only mission sailing through the Mediterranean to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza; another flotilla left Italy at the weekend.

Comprised of eight boats carrying almost 70 people from more than 20 countries, the Thousand Madleens to Gaza X Freedom Flotilla mission is just a few days behind the first. 

On board are elected politicians, including MPs and MEPs, from France, Belgium, Ireland, Spain, the United States and Denmark; Irish author Naoise Dolan, who initially tried to join the Global Sumud Flotilla mission but had to pull out after her boat was cancelled in Tunisia; and French-Malian racial justice activist Assa Traore. 

“Every boat we launch is a direct challenge to the blockade and a declaration of solidarity,” organisers said in a statement. “We sail not as charity, but as part of the global struggle to end apartheid and affirm the right of the Palestinian people to live free.”

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which coordinated the Madleen and Handala missions earlier this year, has been sending boats to Gaza for 15 years, while Thousand Madleens to Gaza (TMTG) is a grassroots initiative inspired by the FFC.

Many of the boats, which can all be tracked online, are named after Palestinians, including Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who was targeted and killed by Israel in August, and paediatrician Alaa Al Najjar, whose husband and nine children were killed in an Israeli airstrike while she was at work.

Perhaps in light of the logistical issues that have beset the Global Sumud Flotilla, the FFC stressed that it is drawing on “years of experience and grassroots organising”. It emphasised that it was foregrounding “maritime safety, legal defence, and communications” to have a “global impact” and to do what “governments, corporations and institutions” refuse to do – “to stop genocide, resist apartheid and demand accountability under international law.”

One boat has not sailed yet, but may catch up with the others: the Conscience, a large passenger ship that was attacked by drones off the coast of Malta in May, shortly before embarking for Gaza. It was too severely damaged to continue at the time, but it has now been repaired. Organisers plan for it to sail with 100 medics and journalists on board.

In a statement, the two organisations said: “For nearly two years, the illegal Israeli occupation has blocked international journalists from entering Gaza, creating one of the most dangerous press blackouts in modern history. During this time, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been deliberately targeted and assassinated, while many more have been imprisoned or silenced. This boat is our challenge to that silence.”

Another boat has also been sailing separately to the Global Sumud Flotilla since last week. The Omar Al Mokhtar departed from Libya with former prime minister Omar al-Hassi on board, and British journalist Yvonne Ridley. The Global Sumud Flotilla would not let it join their fleet because organisers said it had not gone through the strict vetting and training protocols necessary for all participants.

The boat was then converted into a ‘hospital ship’, with Turkish news agency Anadolu reporting that it has been equipped with an intensive care unit. It is currently believed to be sailing just behind the Global Sumud Flotilla, and it is not on their tracker.