With 54 ships participating... The Fleet of Resilience prepares to sail from Turkey to break the Gaza blockade

The Turkish city of Marmaris, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, is preparing tomorrow, Thursday, to be the starting point for the 'Global Fleet of Resilience' on a sea voyage aimed at breaking the Israeli blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. This step comes with wide participation, including 54 ships, among them five ships belonging to the International Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in the largest naval demonstration of its kind in recent years.

Members of the fleet's board of directors announced, during a press conference held in Mugla province, southwestern Turkey, the completion of all logistical and technical preparations for departure. Participants, including activists of various nationalities, affirmed that this initiative comes in response to the continued policies of starvation and slow genocide pursued by the occupation against the residents of the besieged Strip.

For his part, the Palestinian-Spanish activist and fleet member, Saif Abu Kashk, explained that the decision to proceed with this journey came after a deep study of the continuous Israeli violations in the Palestinian territories. Abu Kashk pointed out that the occupation disregards all international laws and human rights, which necessitates an international popular movement to break the isolation imposed on Gaza.

Abu Kashk stressed that the fleet carries more than 500 international solidarity activists who came to express their rejection of the policy of forced displacement and colonialism practiced in both the West Bank and Gaza. He considered the current blockade a war crime that requires immediate intervention to protect civilians and provide their basic needs, which the occupation prevents from reaching them.

In a live testimony to previous violations, Thiago Avila, a member of the fleet's steering committee, revealed harsh details he experienced during a previous attempt to break the blockade. Sources reported that Avila and his colleagues were kidnapped by Israeli forces in international waters after departing from Greece, a move that reflects the occupation's disregard for international sovereignty.

The Brazilian activist recounted details of his detention in Ashkelon Prison, where he was subjected to continuous torture, interrogation, and severe psychological and physical pressure. He explained that he spent about ten days in solitary confinement, confirming that interrogators leveled false accusations of terrorism against him and threatened him with prison sentences of up to a century.

Avila strongly criticized what he described as 'Greek complicity' during previous Israeli attacks at sea, noting that the Greek coast guard did nothing to protect the activists. He added that Greek forces were present during the Israeli navy's attack on the ships but merely watched without intervening to rescue the solidarity activists or their boats.

Despite these threats and risks, international solidarity activists affirmed their determination to sail again, considering that what Palestinians face daily from bombing and destruction far exceeds what activists might be exposed to. They stressed that the Palestinian people deserve freedom and dignity, and that the fleet represents a global message of solidarity to break international silence regarding Gaza's suffering.

This attempt brings to mind the attack launched by the Israeli army last April off the island of Crete, which targeted ships carrying hundreds of participants from 39 countries. That attack resulted in the detention of 21 boats and the arrest of dozens of activists, in an Israeli attempt to quash any naval movement seeking to lift the blockade.

It is worth noting that the Gaza Strip has been suffering from a suffocating blockade since 2007, and humanitarian conditions there have deteriorated to catastrophic levels since the war began in October 2023. Military operations have destroyed infrastructure and displaced more than one and a half million Palestinians, making the arrival of aid convoys and breaking the blockade an urgent necessity to save what can be saved.

We will sail again towards Gaza, and this is historically the largest fleet formation, and we will continue to struggle despite threats of arrest and torture.