Updated at 18h on Monday 1 September:
Fierce Mediterranean winds forced the Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, to return to Barcelona, organisers said on Monday.
Around 20 vessels left the port of Barcelona in Sunday aiming to ‘open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people’ amid the Israel-Hamas war, said the Global Sumud Flotilla (see original report below).
But ‘due to unsafe weather conditions, we conducted a sea trial and then returned to port to allow the storm to pass’, the organisation said in a statement, without specifying when exactly the boats returned to Barcelona.
‘This meant delaying our departure to avoid risking complications with the smaller boats,’ it added, citing gusts that exceeded 55 kilometres per hour.
‘We made this decision to prioritise the safety and well-being of all participants and to safeguard the success of our mission.’
Spanish media reported that the organisers would meet to decide whether to resume the expedition later on Monday.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GLOBAL SUMUD FLOTILLA MISSION DEPARTURE DELAYED TO PRIORITIZE SAFETY AMID STRONG MEDITERRANEAN WINDS pic.twitter.com/A4YDahLiJh
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudF) September 1, 2025
Original full report:
A flotilla of ships departed from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip on Sunday with humanitarian aid, activists and celebrities on board – including the Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg – seeking to ‘break the illegal siege of Gaza’ by Israel, organisers said.
It comes as Israel has stepped up its offensive on Gaza City, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies in the north of the territory. Food experts warned earlier this month that the city was in famine and that half a million people across the strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger. ALSO READ: Spain joins international condemnation of Israel’s plans to take over Gaza City.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying food, water and medicine. Activists on board demanded safe passage to deliver the much-needed aid and the opening of a humanitarian sea corridor, according to a statement.
The convoy of boats aims to reach Gaza by mid-September. Organisers described it as the largest show of solidarity to date, following Israel’s interception of the two most recent attempts.
The Global Sumud Flotilla said the vessels were setting off to ‘open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people’.
The maritime convoy of about 20 boats and delegations from 44 countries is claimed to be the largest attempt to date to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip by sea. They will be joined by more ships from ports in Italy, Greece and Tunisia, expected to leave on 4 September, organisers said.
‘This will be the largest solidarity mission in history, with more people and more boats than all previous attempts combined,’ Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told journalists in Barcelona last week. ALSO READ: Film director Pedro Almodóvar urges Spain to cut all ties with Israel over Gaza.
Thunberg, who sits on the flotilla’s organising committee, wrote on Instagram that activists in 44 countries will hold simultaneous demonstrations and other actions ‘in solidarity with the Palestinian people’.
Thousands of supporters flocked to the Barcelona pier on Sunday morning, some of them wearing kaffiyehs and chanting ‘Free Palestine!’ and ‘Boycott Israel!’ A wide variety of boats, flying Palestinian flags, were waiting to set sail, from run-down old luxury yachts to tiny wooden sailboats and industrial-looking vessels. One of them, the Sirus, is more than 100 years old.
‘The story here is about Palestine. The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive,’ said Thunberg at a news conference before setting sail. She will be one of the most recognisable figures on the expedition, alongside actors Susan Sarandon and Liam Cunningham, as well as activists and politicians, like former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and journalists.
The Global Sumud Flotilla describes itself as an independent collective unaffiliated with any government or political party. ‘Sumud’ means ‘perseverance’ in Arabic.
Israeli forces halted two prior activist sailings toward Gaza in June and July.
In June, 12 activists aboard the sailboat Madleen — from France, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands — were intercepted 185 kilometres west of Gaza. The passengers, including Thunberg, were detained and later expelled.
In July, 21 activists from 10 nations were stopped as they approached Gaza aboard a second vessel, the Handala.
Meanwhile, humanitarian conditions in Gaza have deteriorated further in recent weeks. The United Nations this month declared a state of famine in the territory and warned that 500,000 people face ‘catastrophic’ conditions. ALSO READ: Sánchez: ‘We have a moral duty to save lives in Gaza’, which is a ‘catastrophic situation of genocide’.
The current war began after an unprecedented cross-border assault by Hamas into Israel on 7 October 2023, which left 1,219 people dead, mostly civilians, according to official figures. Israel’s subsequent offensive has killed at least 63,371 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza; the UN considers those figures reliable.
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Activists, personalities and social movements from 44 countries leave for Gaza from Barcelona with the aim of opening a humanitarian corridor to the Strip and defying the naval blockade imposed by Israel.
The genocide must be stopped !! pic.twitter.com/HQW3pB6lJJ— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudF) August 31, 2025
🗣️ Ada Colau: “Si Gaza no se rinde, nosotras no nos podemos rendir”
Hoy parte desde Barcelona con rumbo a Gaza una flotilla de barcos cargados de ayuda humanitaria. A bordo irán Greta Thunberg, el actor Eduard Fernández y la exalcaldesa de Barcelona entre otros. pic.twitter.com/OMB7EZXTRg
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) August 31, 2025
📍Barcelona
After days of culture, talks & music, today we send off the largest fleet ever to break Gaza’s siege. ⛵️🇵🇸
United in our shared humanity. 🖤
🎶 @leilahegazy ( Instagram) & @higherlove_withmegan (instagram ) pic.twitter.com/g5hNmUT0xB
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudF) August 31, 2025
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