40-Boat Flotilla Sails for Gaza After Weather Delays

Forty boats set sail from Barcelona on April 12 for Gaza in a humanitarian mission to break Israel's 16-year blockade, after being delayed by bad weather from their original Sunday departure. The flotilla, organized as the Global Sumud Flotilla, is mostly composed of sailboats that departed shortly after 11:30 am local time. Twenty boats had already joined from Marseille on April 4, with more vessels scheduled to leave Sicily on April 24 for a week of non-violence training in southern Italy. Sumud, meaning 'resilience' in Arabic, aims to rally hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from dozens of countries. In late 2025, a similar flotilla of 50 boats was intercepted by Israeli naval forces, with crew members arrested and expelled. Gaza has remained under Israeli blockade since 2007, with both Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating a ceasefire effective since October 2025. Should Nigerian humanitarian organizations consider similar missions to advocate for global causes?

SOURCE: https://www.channelstv.com/2026/04/15/gaza-aid-flotilla-sets-sail-from-barcelona/