Organizers of an international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza announced on Thursday that they plan to launch another mission in March, this time involving more than 100 boats, The Associated Press reported.
Campaigners described the upcoming effort as the largest civilian‑led mobilization against Israel’s actions in Gaza and urged the international community to prevent Israeli forces from intercepting the flotilla.
The announcement was made at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa, with speakers including Mandla Mandela, grandson of the late South African president.
Mandela participated in last year’s Global Sumud flotilla and was detained along with other activists when Israeli forces intercepted their boat before it reached Gaza.
Organizers said more than 1,000 activists, including medical doctors, war crimes investigators and engineers, will join the new mission. A land convoy is also planned, expected to draw thousands more participants from countries including Tunisia and Egypt.
The boats are expected to depart from Spain, Tunisia and Italy. Activists acknowledged the likelihood of confrontation with Israeli forces but said they were protected by international law.
Last year’s flotilla involved about 50 vessels and 500 activists. An estimated 443 participants were detained, including Mandela, activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan.
Several months earlier, another initiative, the Madleen, attempted to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza and was also intercepted by the IDF.
The activists were then given food and water, despite many of them having prepared prerecorded videos claiming that they were “kidnapped" by the IDF.
The Foreign Ministry said that the Gaza aid aboard the Madleen included less than a single truckload of aid, and it would be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.