In separate announcements made on Wednesday, Spain and Italy said that they are sending a navy ship each to assist the aid flotilla to famine-stricken Gaza, set to break Israel’s longstanding blockade of the Strip and deliver crucial aid.
The Global Sumud flotilla is a civilian fleet of over 50 small vessels from 44 countries. Activists aboard include Greta Thunberg, the Swedish campaigner – as well as the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau. ALSO READ: Fierce winds force Gaza aid flotilla back to Barcelona port.
Israel’s 18-year-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, long predates the current war in Gaza, which started in October 2023 following an attack by Hamas-led militants on southern Israel. Israel says the blockade is needed to keep Hamas from importing arms, while critics call it collective punishment. ALSO READ: Felipe VI on Israel’s ‘abhorrent acts’ in Gaza: ‘We demand this massacre be stopped now’.
Since the aid flotilla set sail from Spain at the start of September, activists have reported several attacks on the convoy, including on several boats in Greek waters on Tuesday, and on two leading ships in Tunisian waters earlier this month.The flotilla has been targeted by drones that dropped explosives, damaging boats, as well as grenades containing irritant gas.
While there is no concrete evidence, activists have accused Israel of being behind the attacks. They said the drones caused 13 explosions as they targeted the sails of at least 11 of the vessels, although no one was injured.
An Italian MP on board one vessel also said ship radios were jammed and suddenly started playing Abba songs at top volume.
On Wednesday, Guido Crosetto, the Italian defence minister, said he was diverting Italy’s Fasan frigate from a Nato exercise in the Mediterranean to assist the flotilla due to the Italian citizens sailing with it, and expressed his ‘total condemnation’ of the attacks. On Thursday, with about four days left before the flotilla reaches Gaza, he announced that he would send a second navy vessel to join the flotilla.
‘In democracies, protests must be protected when they respect international rules and are not violent,’ he said.
The Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni also condemned the attack while claiming the flotilla was a ‘dangerous and irresponsible’ political stunt.
Later on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also said that Spain was sending a ship, ‘with all necessary resources’ to protect and assist the flotilla on its journey to Gaza. ALSO READ: Sánchez demands end to ‘barbarism’ in Gaza and calls for Palestine’s full UN membership.
‘The Spanish government demands that international law be complied with and that the right of our citizens to navigate the Mediterranean safely be respected,’ Sánchez said at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to Spanish media reports, the vessel that Spain is sending to support the Global Sumud Flotilla is the BAM Furor P-46, an offshore patrol vessel of the Spanish Navy (main image). Launched in 2017, the Furor is 93 metres in length and crewed by 52 specialised sailors.
‘If the flotilla participants’ genuine wish is to deliver humanitarian aid rather than serve Hamas, Israel calls on the vessels to dock at the Ashkelon Marina and unload the aid there, from where it will be transferred promptly in a coordinated manner to the Gaza Strip,’ Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote on X on Monday.
‘Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow the breach of a lawful naval blockade,’ the ministry said. ‘Is this about aid or about provocation?’ it concluded.
Brazilian activist and one of the activists on the flotilla, Thiago Ávila, said the group would not abandon its mission.
‘The Global Sumud Flotilla is a peaceful, non-violent, humantarian mission, which is abiding by international law, wich says in the ICJ (International Court of Justice) provisional ruling that no country can hinder humanitarian aid trying to get to Gaza,’ Ávila said in a video statement on Instagram.
In July, the unarmed Freedom flotilla was boarded by Israeli forces in international waters, while it was en route carrying supplies to the Gaza Strip.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
El Gobierno de España exige que se cumpla la ley internacional y que se respete el derecho de sus ciudadanos a navegar por el Mediterráneo en condiciones de seguridad.
Mañana mismo zarpará desde Cartagena un buque de acción marítima equipado con todos los medios por si fuese… pic.twitter.com/FRR6FNMRBV
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) September 24, 2025
Statement: Spain, along with 15 other countries, expresses its concern about the security of the Global Sumud Flotilla, a civil society initiative involving citizens from those countries.
🔗https://t.co/NKu4ruiqRN pic.twitter.com/I7yrJdwqZT
— Spain MFA (@SpainMFA) September 16, 2025
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.
