New Gaza flotilla due to set sail in October in bid to break Israeli blockade

A new flotilla is expected to depart Europe next month and set sail on the Mediterranean in the latest bid by anti-Israel activists to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to reports Wednesday.

Citing the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), news outlets including Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported that the new flotilla departing in October will make calls at ports in Spain, Portugal and Italy before heading toward Gaza.

It will be the first attempt that the pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel organization has made to reach Gaza since Israel arrested 430 of its activists across 50 ships in international waters in May.

The arrests sparked international backlash at the time, after several activists alleged experiencing abuse and sexual assault, including rape, while being held in Israeli detention.

Israel denied these accounts, but National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir prompted further scrutiny and outrage by posting a video of him mocking bound, kneeling activists in a detention center.

Since then, FFC activists have been sailing around Europe to gather support and raise funds for their cause ahead of October’s sailing.

One ship, the Handala II, called at ports in Norway, Sweden and Denmark last month, while another, The Kate, sailed from Bristol, England, to Kinsale, in the Republic of Ireland, on Saturday.

The Kate will stop at additional ports in Ireland, Germany and France over the next few weeks before joining up with the rest of the ships in the flotilla.

One of the activists aboard The Kate is Fiacc Ó Brolcháin, a 74-year-old sailor who was arrested and deported by Israel in May, according to local Irish outlet The Southern Star.

The FFC did not give an exact departure date for the flotilla, and didn’t provide details on how many ships and activists were expected to take part, or how much aid it would be attempting to bring into Gaza.

There have been several attempts to reach Gaza by sea over the past three years, after Israel’s war with Hamas sparked a deep humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Israel says the attempts are largely performative, noting that the ships carry only symbolic aid and have refused Israel’s offer to transfer the goods to Gaza over land.

None of the attempts have been successful, and each has ended with Israeli forces boarding the vessels and arresting the activists before bringing them to land and deporting them to their home countries.

More than 73,400 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack sparked the war there, including more than 1,330 since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians.

The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every dead terror operative.