By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle 
“These acts are acts of desperation, not unlike what we witnessed during the last decade of apartheid South Africa.” Mandla Mandela
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) activists have called on the world’s governments, civil society and people from all walks of life “to bring pressure to bear” on Israel to stop “its violent attacks” and threats to the mission.
“Let us be under no illusion that the Zionist entity that has for the past seven decades acted with impunity in violation of international law and all human rights conventions are now intimidating us with intensified violence,” Mandla Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, said during an emergency press briefing on Thursday from one of the boats in the flotilla, which is expected to enter international waters within hours.
Mandela said Israel’s response to previous flotilla initiatives, intended to break the illegal blockade on Gaza, “are indicative of what harassment and violence we can expect from them”.
Israel’s Threats
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has accused the mission of being a “Hamas flotilla” and vowed that it “will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone.” It called on the vessels “to dock at the Ashkelon Marina and unload the aid there.”
“We were not unaware of apartheid Israel’s propensity for violence and would be surprised if indeed they choose a different response,” Mandela stated. “These acts are acts of desperation, not unlike what we witnessed during the last decade of apartheid South Africa.”
The former member of the South African parliament stated that the GSF mission comes at a time when “some Western regimes have started to backtrack on their shameless support for apartheid Israel.”
He added: “Yet none of them are doing anything to stop the genocide, forced mass starvation and forced displacement of millions of people in Gaza.”
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Mandela vowed that the GSF’s efforts will not cease until Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza ends, “humanitarian aid flows freely and the Palestinian people are free.”
The flotilla, made up of over 40 boats, came under attack from unmanned drones in the early hours of Wednesday. At least 14 boats were hit in the attacks, which included the deployment of explosive and incendiary devices, deliberate dispersal of chemical substances onto civilian vessels, disabling of emergency communication devices and calculated physical damage designed to render the ships unseaworthy and endanger volunteers aboard, the GSF said in a statement.
‘Recycled Lies’
Yasemin Acar, GSF steering committee member, drew attention to Israel’s use of “manufactured threats” as a pretext for attacking aid convoys, hospitals, journalists and civilian infrastructure, “only to have those claims quietly walked back or disproven when international scrutiny catches up.”
Acar added that Israel was using the “same playbook again” as the flotilla sails toward Gaza, “with nothing but” medicine, food, human rights observers, doctors, journalists, lawyers, and parliamentarians on board.
A Symbol of Global Resistance: Why Israel Fears the Gaza Flotillas
The German-born activist stressed that Israel is “already planting stories, whispering security threats, possible weapons, and terrorist ties.”
Acar continued: “These are not new tactics. These are recycled lies designed to justify violence before it happens. This is how consent is manufactured, not just in headlines, but in the minds of ordinary people – to accept the siege of Gaza as normal, to excuse the killings of civilians as collateral, and to dismiss Palestinian calls for freedom as extremism.”
Call to Journalists, Media Outlets
She urged journalists and media outlets “not to amplify unverified and unfair Israeli claims as fact.”
“Ask for evidence, demand accountability, because what you print, what you broadcast can be the difference between life and death for Gaza and for the civilians on all of these ships,” Acar stated.
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The activist emphasized that the world “cannot afford to fall for this disinformation again and again,” adding, “Journalistic integrity and human lives depend on it.”
Acar said that as a German citizen, she demanded that her government, the second largest weapons supplier “to this genocide, to cut all ties with Israel.”
Control of Gaza’s Waters ‘Illegal’
On the question of Israel’s territorial claim of the waters around Gaza, Palestinian-American lawyer Lamis Deek said that according to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and international law that the “control of Gaza and its waters is unequivocally illegal.”
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“These are illegally occupied lands and illegally occupied waters,” Deek stated, adding that even if Israel “were to insist that these are Israeli waters, according to the UN General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 of September 2024, the majority of the UN General Assembly adopted the ICJ advisory opinion, meaning the majority of of the states in the world have acknowledged that Israeli control over Palestinian waters outside the coast of Gaza is illegal.”
‘Real Solutions’ Required
On Wednesday, Italy and Spain announced that they would send naval boats to support the flotilla, a move welcomed by the flotilla’s activists.
Acar, however, pointed out that it has to be made clear that “it is Palestinians who need protection” and that “these governments have failed to protect Palestine uh and the people of Palestine.”
An Italian navy vessel was spotted near the Global Sumud Flotilla on the Mediterranean Sea on September 25, after Italy and Spain announced they would send ships to support and protect the fleet from Israeli drone attacks pic.twitter.com/xf95kRPzKS
— TRT World (@trtworld) September 25, 2025
She stressed that this was the reason initiatives like the flotilla have “come to life.”
“This is why we are here, going to Gaza because all governments around the world have failed to protect Palestinian lives and they’re still failing to do so,” Acar stated.
Acknowledging that the flotilla needs protection, she went on to say that protection is required because “Israel is a threat, Israel is breaching international law, Israel is breaching maritime law and it is committing war crimes.”
Acar emphasized that “real solutions” are required, and “the solution is that these governments protect Palestine and they can only protect Palestine if they challenge Israel by cutting all ties to Israel.”
Protection under Geneva Conventions
The GSF has stated that international law “is clear” in that civilians, including those engaged in humanitarian missions, are protected under the Geneva Conventions.
“Any attack on this mission would constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. It would also violate the International Court of Justice’s binding provisional measures, which require Israel to allow and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the mission said in a statement.
The Gaza Precedent: How the World’s Response Will Shape Global Justice
It demanded that all UN Member States – and in particular those whose nationals are aboard the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla—immediately ensure and facilitate effective protection, including maritime escort, accredited diplomatic observers, and an overt protective State presence, “so that the flotilla may proceed safely, the mission may continue unimpeded, and the law prevails over acts of annihilation.”
In light of the ongoing 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, “we call upon all Member States to place the attacks on the flotilla on the Assembly’s agenda and to adopt a resolution addressing these grave violations.”
‘Multinational Effort’
The mission is described as “a multinational civilian effort” to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza, and includes more than 500 volunteers — doctors, lawyers, parliamentarians, unionists, and human rights defenders — whose aim is to deliver medical supplies and food to Gaza’s besieged population.
Global Sumud Flotilla Comes under Drone Attacks en Route to Gaza
“Every participant has committed to strict nonviolence and has undergone extensive training,” the statement added.
Legal and medical support boats accompany the mission “to guarantee full transparency and adherence to international law.”
Ongoing Genocide
Since reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, Israel has continued its bloody aerial bombardment across the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding thousands of Palestinians.
Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 65,500 Palestinians, with more than 167,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.
The moment Israeli fighter jets bombarded a residential building in Gaza City, today. pic.twitter.com/x8wSUZUhSm
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 25, 2025
In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.
Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Nurah Tape is a South Africa-based journalist. She is an editor with The Palestine Chronicle.
