Overview

• Organizers say dozens of small vessels with delegations from 44 countries began departing on August 31, with additional boats scheduled to leave Italy and Tunisia on September 4.
• Participants target a mid-September approach to Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies, contingent on being allowed through the long‑standing Israeli naval blockade.
• Large solidarity mobilizations accompanied the sailings, including a torchlight procession in Genoa that organizers estimated at roughly 40,000 people and demonstrations in Venice during the film festival.
• Local drives gathered substantial relief goods, with coordinators in Genoa reporting about 300 tonnes collected; initial loads of roughly 45 tonnes are leaving now, with further shipments to be embarked from Catania.
• The flotilla includes prominent public figures and some European lawmakers—among those named are Greta Thunberg, Susan Sarandon, Liam Cunningham, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, and Ada Colau—while crews report heightened security after past Israeli interdictions and alleged port sabotages.