Global Sumud Flotilla plans larger spring mission to Gaza, citing unmet humanitarian needs

GENEVA / ISTANBUL

The Global Sumud Flotilla plans to set sail again for war-torn Gaza in the spring with broader international participation, the mission's Türkiye coordinator said, arguing that ceasefire terms are not being implemented and humanitarian needs in the territory remain unmet.

Speaking to Anadolu, Huseyin Durmaz said that while hundreds of aid trucks were promised daily under the October truce framework, only about 40 to 50 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies are entering Gaza each day.

Many of the trucks entering the territory are commercial, he said, despite residents lacking the purchasing power to buy goods after widespread devastation.

“We are talking about a city that has been completely destroyed because of genocide,” Durmaz said, adding that a new, larger mission is necessary.

“We see that in the coming spring months, many more new initiatives and major coalitions will form to deliver aid to Gaza,” Durmaz said. “This situation has developed because the ceasefire is not being implemented and the needs of the people of Gaza are not being met.”

According to him, Israel could be pursuing efforts that will ultimately force residents out of Gaza, a concern that is motivating broader mobilization.

“This is something that encourages us to organize, plan and carry out much larger and stronger actions again,” he said.

Durmaz said the next mission is expected to include participation from more countries than previous flotillas, and they have launched initiatives to strengthen and renew the team.

Global conscience has awakened

Durmaz said the flotilla movement believes international public pressure has influenced developments around Gaza in the past, stirring a “global conscience.”

“What mattered most to us was embedding in people’s minds the idea that ‘a great deal can be done for Gaza.’ We wanted to show that global actions are possible, that the people of Gaza have raised the awareness of societies around the world to this level, and that as long as we believe, we can take major steps that yield results. We believe we have achieved this. The global conscience has now awakened and has begun to act in a lasting way.”

Durmaz said the organizers expect “manipulations” questioning the need for a flotilla amid existing aid deliveries under the ceasefire process, and that is why there is a need for greater effort and determination in response.

He said the need for major global initiatives has compelled them to “find new ways and methods to be the voice of the people of Gaza and to produce much bolder and greater ideas — and to act — in order to end” the suffering.

Israel has previously attacked several Gaza-bound ships, seized their cargo and deported the activists on board.

In October, Israeli naval forces attacked and seized more than 40 boats that were part of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud humanitarian aid flotilla. Tel Aviv detained over 450 activists who were on board. Many told hair-raising stories of abuse at the hands of their Israeli captors.

Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for nearly 18 years and tightened the siege in March when it closed border crossings and blocked food and medicine deliveries, pushing the enclave into famine.

The Israeli genocide on Gaza began on Oct. 8, 2023, and lasted for two years until a ceasefire agreement took effect in October 2025.

The ceasefire halted the two-year war that killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.