A new flotilla, including Greta Thunberg and high-profile figures, has departed from Italy to deliver aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade.
A group of international activists, including prominent climate activist Greta Thunberg, is preparing to sail from southern Italy to the Gaza Strip in a bid to challenge the Israeli blockade and draw global attention to the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there.
The vessel, named Madleen, is scheduled to depart from the port of Catania on Sunday afternoon, according to the organizers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The mission, described as both symbolic and practical, aims to deliver a small quantity of aid while amplifying demands for an end to Israel’s siege. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the departure, Thunberg, visibly emotional, said:
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying… Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it’s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide.”
🇵🇸 ⛵️ Avec @GretaThunberg nous appelons à la mobilisation citoyenne pour soutenir massivement le navire humanitaire de @GazaFFlotilla ! C’est le seul moyen de garantir notre sécurité. 🙏 pic.twitter.com/5DUJbkRdPZ
— Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 1, 2025
The boat’s crew includes high-profile figures such as actor Liam Cunningham and French MEP Rima Hassan, who has Palestinian roots. Hassan has previously been denied entry to Israel due to her vocal opposition to its military campaign in Gaza.
The journey is expected to take about a week—assuming the ship is not intercepted.
This follows a failed attempt in early May when, according to a statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, one of its ships, The Conscience—carrying volunteers from over 21 countries—“came under direct attack in international waters”.
The Coalition stated that armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.
Ongoing Genocide
Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 54,000, wounding more than 123,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
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Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.
Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.
(PC, Social Media)
The Israeli Nazis will attack them, then blame it on Ansarallah, and/or Hamas. Then the Nazis in my US government will murder innocent civilians in ” retaliation ” , for Wasrael…this is Democracy?? This is where our taxes went? Nazis killing Arab children? i did not say they could use my money for these purposes. All we can do is withhold as much money as possible. We, the citizens of America give the government just over 4 TRILLION dollars a year! they have us 9 years behind zero because we are 37 Trillion in debt. And we’re expected to pay it back!
Our only option is War-Tax Resistance.
https://www.warresisters.org/
Wishing her and all others on board a safe trip.
Thank you, Greta for standing up for your principles, for standing up for humanity. Whatever the brutality Hamas has done in October of 2023 in Israel, it has been outdone by Israel to thousands and thousands of Palestinian women, children, men. It is a travesty.