When the Global Sumud Flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters between 1 and 3 October, protests erupted around the world. Demonstrators demanded that governments condemn what they called out Israel’s unlawful obstruction of a humanitarian mission to Gaza.
The flotilla — made up of 42 civilian boats carrying food, medicine and other essentials — set sail in response to the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. After Israel intensified border controls at the Rafah crossing earlier this year, most aid convoys were blocked or delayed, making it impossible for relief organizations to deliver enough supplies by land. Famine was confirmed in August by the UN and the WHO. A naval blockade off the coast of Palestine had been enforced for years, restricting access to Gaza’s coast despite legal disputes over its control of the 12 nautical miles between international waters and Palestinian shores.
‘A before and after’ moment for Gaza awareness
Italian MEP Annalisa Corrado, who was on board one of the flotilla’s boats, described the mission as a historical turning point in global awareness of the Gaza crisis. “If there’s a historical fact — a ‘before’ and ‘after’ the Flotilla — that’s in the perception people had [of the situation in Gaza], at some point they refused to be on the wrong side of history, with governments that cover up and are complicit in Netanyahu's crimes,” she told The Parliament from the Plenary in Strasbourg on 8 October.
Corrado was one of five MEPs participating in the mission. Their dual goal was to deliver humanitarian aid by sea – circumventing Israel’s blockade – and to raise awareness of the “genocide that is taking place in the Gaza Strip.”
To Corrado, the hope was to leverage media attention — making clear the activists were unarmed, non-violent, and acting within international law — to generate enough public and governmental pressure on Israel to lift the siege. The operation was meant, she said, to “move diplomacy.”
Arrests and detention in international waters
Israeli forces intercepted the boats and detained their passengers, transferring them to Ketziot prison in the Negev desert. As the operation occurred in international waters and no laws were broken, Corrado argues, the detention was unlawful.
While the MEPs' presence on board was intended to offer a layer of protection to the civilian volunteers, the detained protesters nonetheless claim to have been abused. “We all experienced different levels of mistreatment,” Corrado said. Detainees were denied water, food, sleep, access to sanitary facilities. “They threw our belongings for no reason, including the food we had with us and medicines.” Activists were locked in armored vans, making it difficult for them to breathe, and subjected to cold air conditioning when they protested. “We saw people being blindfolded, dragged, tugged, made to kneel. We collected testimonies of people being beaten repeatedly.”
Corrado added that detainees were also denied contact with lawyers and consular officials. “Some were given the possibility to make a phone call, but it was arbitrary.”
Italian MEPs Benedetta Scuderi (Greens) and Annalisa Corrado (S&D) were released on 3 October. French MEPs Emma Fourreau and Rima Hassan (both The Left) were released on 6 October, while French MEP Mélissa Camara (Greens) will return to France on 13 October.
Global reaction and impact of flotilla
The Israeli Foreign Ministry mocked the mission on social media, calling the participants “Hamas-Sumud passengers” and joking their “deportation procedures to Europe” would soon begin.
The same X account had previously dismissed a June 2025 blockade-breaking attempt involving Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and French MEP Rima Hassan, as the “selfie yacht.”
“I reject [the term] ‘selfie activism’ very strongly, because we got on the boats, we spent a month away from our children, from our families and loved ones in truly complex conditions and we risked our safety,” Corrado said. The flotilla, she argued, was one of the few actions capable of “awakening popular consciousness.”
Indeed, the mission’s interception triggered a wave of global mobilisation. In Italy, over 2 million people participated in protests during a general strike on 3 October, according to the country’s biggest trade union, CGIL. Demonstrations swept through France, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland as well.
Divisions among governments over Gaza aid mission
The Israeli government, however, was not the only one to dismiss the mission. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned it as “dangerous” and “irresponsible,” adding that her government could have delivered the aid “in a matter of hours” — something Corrado noted “she hasn’t done, she is not doing now.”
In the days before the interception, Italy had proposed a mediation plan: delivering the aid to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in Cyprus, which would then assume responsibility for its delivery to Gaza. But Corrado said the proposal had originated with activists only to be co-opted by the Italian government “without including the steering committee” and without credibility as Rome continued to refuse to recognise the state of Palestine, call for a suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, agree to an arms embargo, or limit trade with Israel.
Activism v. Politics
Corrado drew a clear line between the responsibilities of activists and politicians. “Activists’ independence and radicality are essential to point out issues and raise awareness, while politicians are in charge of building solutions.” But, she continued, “If politics loses contact with activism and with the radicality of activism, it loses its ideal depth and its value.” Corrado described herself as both an activist and a politician — the two making up “different roles on the chessboard” and sharing a common goal.
While the ceasefire in Gaza had yet to be announced at the time of the interview, Corrado expressed optimism about the Flotilla’s lasting impact in challenging Israel’s blockade and shifting public opinion. “Even though the aid didn’t reach its destination, what happened in the nations involved in the events of the Flotilla — with millions of people that returned to the streets like we hadn’t seen in years — I believe this is historical,” she said.
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