Beril Canakci
22 April 2026•Update: 23 April 2026
- 'We’re not doing this because we want to, we’re doing it because it’s necessary,' Brazilian activist Thiago Avila aboard the flotilla tells Anadolu
- Avila says flotilla carries enough aid to build a primary school in Gaza
A coalition of pro-Palestinian activists sailing toward Gaza says it is prepared to continue physically blocking ships it believes are supplying Israel’s military, after targeting one of the world’s largest cargo vessels in the Mediterranean.
On Monday, more than 20 boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla converged on the MSC Maya, a nearly 400-meter-long (1,310-foot) container ship, in what organizers described as a coordinated action to disrupt the transport of materials allegedly linked to Israel’s weapons supply chain.
The group said the vessel was heading to Israeli ports carrying materials used in military production.
“From now on, we are blocking any complicit vessel that crosses our path on the way to Gaza,” Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told Anadolu.
Expanding flotilla en route to Gaza
The Gaza-bound flotilla, which departed Barcelona on April 12, includes more than 70 boats and nearly 1,000 activists, with additional vessels expected to join along the route across the Mediterranean.
Organizers describe it as the largest mission yet.
“We’re not doing this because we want to, we’re doing it because it’s necessary. It’s been six months and no real ceasefire in Gaza. People are still being killed, they’re still being hindered, and the land is being taken,” said Avila, 39, aboard a vessel near Sicily.
Gaza authorities say Israeli forces have committed thousands of violations since the ceasefire began Oct. 10, 2025. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, these violations have resulted in the deaths of 777 Palestinians and injuries to 2,193 others. In total, more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in Oct. 2023, with widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Avila said the mission is unfolding in coordinated stages as the convoy moves toward Gaza.
“We are moving forward … until we get to Gaza to break the illegal siege and to create a people’s humanitarian border and to be side by side with the Palestinian people,” he said.
The fleet includes specialized vessels, including a medical ship and supply boats carrying construction materials and aid, he added.
“We have a medical boat, we have an eco-builders boat,” he said. “We are bringing enough aid, resources and materials to build a whole primary school in Gaza.”
Asked whether global attention has shifted amid wider regional tensions, including the US-Israel war with Iran, Avila said Gaza has been overlooked.
“Definitely,” he said. “But we will not let that pass.”
Avila has also participated in other solidarity voyages, including a convoy to Cuba last month that delivered humanitarian supplies and expressed opposition to the US embargo.
As a member of the flotilla’s steering committee, he said that the group sees its mission as part of a broader global solidarity movement.
“We at the Global Solidarity Flotilla believe that we live in a world full of exploitation, oppression and destruction of nature,” he said. “We stand with oppressed people everywhere.”
The current mission builds on a similar flotilla last year involving more than 40 boats and about 500 activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
That mission was intercepted by Israeli forces near Gaza, with most participants detained and later deported.
Avila, who took part in that mission, said Israeli forces attacked the vessels with 16 drone strikes, including 2 incendiary, 11 explosive and 3 chemical devices.
“We kept on going despite the attacks,” he added.
