Mediterranean winds of 30 knots delayed the Global Sumud Flotilla as organizers said safety must come first.
By JNS staff
A Gaza-bound flotilla of dozens of boats, including one carrying Swedish anti-Israel activist Greta Thunberg, was forced to turn back to port in Barcelona due to stormy weather, organizers said on Monday.
The Global Sumud (“steadfastness” in Arabic) Flotilla posted statement to its Telegram channel that mission departure was “delayed to prioritize safety amid strong Mediterranean winds.”
“We conducted a sea trial and then returned to port to allow the storm to pass. This meant delaying our departure to avoid risking complications with the smaller boats,” adding that the vessels were facing 30 knot winds (35 mph, or 56 kph).
The organizers did not say when the journey would resume.
Thunberg and hundreds of other anti-Israel activists departed from Spain and other countries on Sunday, in what Reuters described as the largest Gaza flotilla to date, in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of the Strip.
It is the second protest flotilla for the Swedish climate activist, who has pivoted to anti-Israel extremism since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. She is joined by far-left Portuguese parliamentarian Mariana Mortágua, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, who has supported a cultural boycott of the Jewish state, and activists from 44 countries, who departed from Barcelona, Sicily, Greece and Tunisia.
The Global Sumud Flotilla is described by the Barcelona Radical Book Fair, which broadcasted the departure live, as “history’s largest international civil humanitarian movement to break the siege on Gaza, open a maritime humanitarian corridor and denounce the genocide against the Palestinians.”
A restricted meeting was held Sunday at the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem to discuss operational strategy against the more than 200 people participating in the flotilla. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and security personnel participated.
Ben-Gvir propose to Netanyahu tougher measures as part of a deterrent strategy to prevent future flotillas. This strategy was reportedly formulated at a preparatory meeting hosted by the minister on Aug. 28 with top police and Prison Service personnel.
The strategy includes “detaining the activists in terrorist-level conditions at Ktzi’ot and Damon (for females) facilities—lacking television or radio, without superior-quality meals, and involving prolonged custody rather than merely overnight,” Israel Hayom reported.
“The foundation for custody in these conditions, it was stated during the meeting, is their arrival to violate a restricted military area, plus creating documentation on each individual using photographs with terrorists and links to terror groups,” the report continued.
In addition, under the proposal, Israel will seize the vessels and turn them into police assets to establish a maritime force for police operations, which a judicial assessment has already shown would allow seizure of these types of boats.
Israel Hayom cited sources close to Ben-Gvir as saying that the “gentle” handling of previous protest flotillas failed to deter activists from trying again. The sources added that if the strategy is approved, “following several weeks at Ktzi’ot and Damon, they’ll be sorry about the time they arrived here. We must eliminate their appetite for another attempt.”
In June, Thunberg was detained by the Israeli Navy during an attempt to reach Gaza aboard the Madleen, and subsequently deported.
Of the 12 people aboard the Madleen, four, including Thunberg, agreed to be deported from Israel voluntarily, while all were banned from the Jewish state for 100 years, according to their attorneys.
Upon touching down at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, Thunberg held a press conference in which she claimed she had been “kidnapped” by Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson’s Unit told JNS on Aug. 11 that the military “enforces the security naval blockade on the Gaza Strip and is prepared for a wide range of scenarios, which it will act upon in accordance with the directives of the political echelon.”