“If we are to stand on the right side of history, it is our duty and about time that we join that movement,” said Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, on Monday, as she set sail aboard an aid vessel bound for Gaza.
Thunberg was among 12 international volunteers who departed from the Italian port of Catania on Saturday aboard the Madleen, a civilian ship carrying food, medical supplies and water treatment equipment. Organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the voyage aims to break Israel’s long-standing naval blockade on Gaza and deliver urgent humanitarian relief.
“The Freedom Flotilla aid mission is about supporting Palestinian resistance and challenging the Israeli blockade and genocide when our complicit governments fail to step up,” Thunberg said in a statement issued on Instagram on Monday.
The mission comes one month after another FFC vessel, Conscience, was reportedly attacked by drones in international waters. The coalition has blamed Israel for the strike, which Israeli authorities have not confirmed. Despite this, activists launched the Madleen, named after Gaza’s first known fisherwoman, as a renewed act of non-violent civil resistance.
“We have yet again set sail towards Gaza – not carrying weapons, but food and medical supplies,” Thunberg added. “Systematic starvation and deprivation of basic needs are some of many methods of warfare Israel is using against Palestinians.”
Israel defends the blockade as a necessary security measure to prevent weapons reaching Hamas, the armed group that governs Gaza. It strongly denies accusations of genocide and war crimes, calling them politically motivated.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 54,000 people – many of them women and children – have been killed since the conflict escalated in October 2023. Nearly 90% of the population is displaced, and the United Nations warns of famine and societal collapse.
“This mission is only part of a global movement for social and climate justice, liberation and decolonisation led by marginalised people,” Thunberg said. “Free Palestine!”
As of Sunday evening, Israeli officials had not commented on the ship’s departure. However, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham derided the effort on social media, writing, “I hope Greta and her friends can swim!” – an apparent reference to previous flotilla confrontations.
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Aid ship Madleen sails for Gaza to challenge Israeli blockade
