Dozens of boats carrying activists and aid for Palestinians in Gaza have set sail from the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona.
Boats carrying activists and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza reposition in the port during a symbolic send-off as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Activists place Spanish and Palestinian flags on boats ahead of a Global Sumud Flotilla's planned departure bound for Gaza, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Activists prepare supplies aboard a boat taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla destined for Gaza, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Boats carrying activists and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza reposition in the port during a symbolic send-off as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026. Boats carrying activists and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, are docked at the port of Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Boats carrying activists and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza reposition in the port during a symbolic send-off as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, April 12, 2026. – Dozens of boats carrying activists and aid for Palestinians in Gaza set sail from the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona on Wednesday. Organizers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say that more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world will participate, with campaigners saying it's the biggest civilian-led mobilization of its kind against Israel’s actions in Nearly 40 boats were leaving Barcelona while the rest will join the fleet from other ports along the Mediterranean as they sail eastward, according to Thiago Ávila, one of the flotilla's leaders who spoke at a news conference in Barcelona on Sunday during a symbolic send-off event.
Bad weather had forced organizers to delay their departure, which was originally planned for April 12. As attention has turned to the Iran war, activists hope that their latest mission will revive attention to the plight of Palestinians living in Gaza. “We sail because governments have failed,” said Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian activist and member of the flotilla's global steering committee. “They want a society that feels helpless, that cannot act, that cannot mobilize,' Abukeshek said on Sunday. “We refuse to be that society.”
made the most intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas-led militants stop. Yet Israeli attacks have killed more than 700 people in the six months since the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Much of the ceasefire work remains to be done, from disarming Hamas and ending its rule to deploying an international stabilization force and beginning vast reconstruction. Around 2 million Gaza residents are still living in ruins with shortages of food and medicine, and only limited aid entering through a single, Israeli-controlled border post. Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas from importing arms, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
foiled by Israeli authoritiesLast fall, dozens of boats sailed close to Gaza, with one even crossing the 12-nautical-mile line marking the divide from international waters to territorial waters off Gaza. But they were allThose sailing last year, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested, imprisoned and deported by Israel. Theywhile in detention, accusations that Israeli authorities denied. Their interception at sea had been broadcast live by onboard cameras, sparking worldwide protests at the time. But attention on Gaza has since waned, with eyes focused now on the latest Iran war upending the Middle East and roiling global markets.
Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip , which was ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war in Gaza began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Greenpeace Spain and migrant rescue group Open Arms, which have committed their two large vessels to sail alongside the smaller flotilla boats, are among those supporting the flotilla. “We sail because the people of Gaza have a right to exist and to breathe and to thrive on their land,” said Eva Saldaña, head of Greenpeace Spain. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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