Gaza aid flotilla departs Barcelona again: AFP journalists

The flotilla is the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea. (Reuters)

• Around 20 vessels left the Spanish city on Sunday aiming to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”
• But “due to unsafe weather conditions,” the flotilla returned to port “to allow the storm to pass,” the organization said

BARCELONA: A Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and pro-Palestinian activists including environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg departed Barcelona again on Monday, several hours after winds forced it to return to the Spanish port, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Around 20 vessels left the Spanish city on 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 — sumud being the Arabic term for “resilience.”
But “due to unsafe weather conditions,” the flotilla returned to port “to allow the storm to pass,” the organization said in an earlier statement, without specifying when exactly the boats returned to Barcelona.
“We made this decision to prioritize the safety and well-being of all participants and to safeguard the success of our mission,” it added, citing gusts that exceeded 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour.
Organizers said they were especially concerned about the risk the weather posed to the smaller boats.
Spain’s national weather agency AEMET had issued warnings of rainfall and strong storms for the northeastern region of Catalonia which includes Barcelona.
The activists from dozens of countries included Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and Spain’s Eduard Fernandez, as well as European lawmakers and public figures, including former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza in mid-September and comes after Israel blocked two activist attempts to deliver aid to the devastated Palestinian territory by ship in June and July.
The United Nations has declared a famine in Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” conditions.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, with 47 still held in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable.