Overview

• Departures from Sicily have been postponed beyond the previously floated September 7 window as vessels wait to rendezvous with teams arriving via Tunisia and from Barcelona, according to organizers.
• The Israel Defense Forces released video of coastal defense exercises preparing for a possible encounter with the flotilla, while ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Yariv Levin urged prolonged detention for any activists arrested.
• Italian solidarity actions intensified with CGIL-led rallies on September 6, a Campidoglio demonstration in Rome that marched toward the Colosseum, a planned candlelight event on September 7, and earlier police limits on a Tiber river solidarity route.
• Mission backers say the effort seeks to deliver roughly 250 tons of food and medical aid to Gaza and to challenge Israel’s naval blockade, with legal teams and nonviolence protocols prepared for potential interdictions.
• Reports diverge on the flotilla’s scale, with estimates ranging from about 20 to roughly 60 vessels and from around 200 to more than 350 participants, and named participants include Greta Thunberg and four Italian lawmakers.