Activists planning a significantly larger flotilla mission are gearing up for their next attempt to break Gaza’s blockade, with organizers expecting more than double the number of participants compared to their previous unsuccessful endeavor last year. According to international media reports, approximately 100 boats could be involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla, carrying up to 1,000 medical workers and volunteers.
The flotilla was previously stopped by Israeli forces when they intercepted around 40 vessels as they approached Gaza in October. Hundreds of participants were detained, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. At the time, Israeli authorities dismissed the mission as a media-driven provocation aimed at distracting from their control over access to Gaza.
Members of the flotilla group have rallied support by meeting with supporters this week at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg. Mandla Mandela, grandson of South Africa’s former president Nelson Mandela and one of those detained during the earlier voyage, urged the international community to stand behind the initiative.
“This is about justice and dignity,” Mandela said, urging people around the world to join the effort.
Israel controls access to Gaza by land, sea, and air, rejecting accusations that it is blocking essential supplies from reaching the enclave’s roughly two million residents. Aid agencies and Palestinian officials argue that humanitarian assistance remains far below what is needed even after a ceasefire in October, which included commitments for more aid.
Since then, Israeli forces have taken control of over half of the Gaza Strip, issuing evacuation orders in large areas, pushing most of the population into a narrow coastal zone where many are sheltering in tents or damaged buildings. Flotilla organizers say that even if their vessels are prevented from reaching Gaza, the mission would still serve a purpose by drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis.
“We may not arrive physically, but our message reaches the people of Gaza,” activist Susan Abdallah stated. “They know they are not forgotten.”
Meanwhile, violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has displaced nearly 700 Palestinians in January, according to the United Nations. Violence from settler attacks against Palestinian herding communities in the Jordan Valley has driven displacement and forced residents from their homes under constant intimidation and repeated assaults for two years.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA reported that at least 694 Palestinians were displaced during the month of January. The UN human rights office previously warned that settler attacks are a major driver of Palestinian displacement in the region, with support coming from Israeli authorities and military forces.
While attention is focused on Gaza, the West Bank continues to experience forced displacement largely ignored by international scrutiny. Allegra Pacheco, who leads the West Bank Protection Consortium, said the lack of attention has worsened the situation in the occupied territories.
“Attention is fixed on Gaza, but abuses in the West Bank continue with little accountability,” she stated.
The occupied West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, houses about 490,000 Israeli settlers living in communities widely regarded as illegal under international law. Roughly three million Palestinians also reside there.