Overview

• Roughly 20 vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla left Barcelona carrying aid and hundreds of participants from 44 countries, including Greta Thunberg, actors Liam Cunningham and Susan Sarandon, and European lawmakers.
• Organizers reported gusts exceeding 55 km/h (over 30 knots) and said the delay was to avoid complications for smaller boats, with captains set to confer on whether to relaunch.
• Spain’s foreign minister said the government would provide diplomatic and consular protection to Spanish citizens sailing with the convoy.
• UN-backed monitors have declared famine conditions in parts of Gaza, and activists say their goal is to open a maritime humanitarian corridor to deliver food, water, and medicine.
• The Israel Defence Forces state they will enforce the naval blockade if vessels approach Gaza, after earlier flotillas in June and July were intercepted and participants detained and deported.