THE Global Sumud (steadfastness) Flotilla will launch its largest fleet yet in a bid to get aid into Gaza next spring, it has announced.

The group, which organised the 40-plus-vessel flotilla which earlier this year became the first to get within 70 nautical miles of Gaza since Israel began blockading the Palestinian territory in 2009, said it plans a new mission with over 100 ships and 1,000 participants.

“This mission not only aims to break the siege and deliver life-saving humanitarian aid, but also to establish a sustained civilian presence,” the organisers said.

“Teams of doctors, nurses, teachers, eco-builders, unarmed civilian protectors, and others will disembark to work alongside the Palestinian people as they continue to endure the Israeli regime’s ongoing attacks and begin rebuilding healthcare systems and basic infrastructure destroyed over the past two years” (since Israel invaded Gaza in October 2023, following the Hamas raid into Israel of October 7 that year).

Launched in August, the flotilla’s last effort was struck by Israeli drones, and finally intercepted by the Israeli navy, its crews detained, in October. Spanish and Italian warships accompanied it for part of its journey to indicate they were ready to protect their citizens on board, but abandoned it once it approached Palestinian waters. Unlike Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey, Britain declined to offer any protection to those of its nationals who took part in the humanitarian mission, and made no comment when Israel arrested its citizens.

Despite an official ceasefire agreed as of October 10, Gaza remains gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with insufficient food and shelter in a harsh winter. Israel insists it is meeting the ceasefire condition of allowing 600 lorryloads of aid in a day, but these are vetted by Israeli military agency Cogat and it admits 80 per cent are private-sector vehicles, many carrying commercial goods which residents of Gaza — where the economy has been destroyed by the war and the preceding 17-year illegal siege — cannot afford.

“This mission is also not only about those at sea. It is about the millions around the world who are ready to say ‘enough is enough’,” the flotilla organisers said.

“Together, we rise against apartheid, racism, imperialism, colonialism, ecocide, and all systems of oppression.”