Stormy weather in the western Mediterranean has forced the Global Sumud [“Steadfastness”] Flotilla to delay its entry into international waters as anti-Israel activists attempt to sail toward the Gaza Strip, the group said on Sunday.
The latest attempt to break the Israeli blockade in place to prevent terrorist attacks like the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre departed from Barcelona on Sunday.
Organizers said the fleet’s vessels are ready and will continue toward Italy, the next stop on the route to Gaza, once a storm system moving from Menorca passes.
From Barcelona to Gaza and beyond, we rise up for collective liberation!
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@gbsumudflotilla) April 12, 2026
The Global Sumud Flotilla sets sail again. Even though we’ll have to wait out until the storm coming from Menorca has passed, all our boats are ready to continue onto Italy, our next stop towards Palestine… pic.twitter.com/z8NcGy2IJh
The civilian-led mission, backed by more than 70 vessels and joined by Greenpeace’s “Arctic Sunrise,” is coordinated with land-based “We Rise” solidarity actions worldwide.
Several missions were intercepted by the Israeli Navy last year, with the participants detained and deported, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
Jerusalem’s relations with the left-wing government in Madrid recently hit new lows. Spain said last month it had permanently withdrawn its ambassador from Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on April 9 condemned Spain’s decision to reopen its embassy in Tehran, accusing Madrid of aligning itself with “the Iranian terror regime.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday condemned an April 5 Easter display in a village in Spain, where an effigy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was blown up using 31 pounds of gunpowder.
“The appalling antisemitic hatred on display here is a direct result of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government’s systemic incitement,” a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement on X about the display in El Burgo, near Malaga.
