The boat is named after the iconic Palestinian character symbolising the fight against injustice [Getty/file photo]
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is set to sail a ship again on Sunday toward Gaza in a bid to deliver symbolic humanitarian relief to the besieged and war-devastated enclave, the organisation said on Monday.
The FFC will launch Handala, carrying life-saving humanitarian aid and messages of solidarity to the enclave’s exhausted and desperate Palestinians, in defiance of Israel’s threats.
Last month, the same organisation launched the Madleen, which was seized by Israeli naval forces in international waters, with its crew detained. The activists on board included Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan and French Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter Omar Faiad.
Other activists included Germany’s Yasemin Acar, Turkey’s Suayb Ordu and Thiago Avila from Brazil.
Many of the activists were held for days in Israeli detention and were subject to abuse, before being deported to their respective countries. Israel’s treatment of the Freedom Flotilla crew sparked global condemnation.
Just like Madleen, the Handala vessel will set sail from Sicily in Italy. On board will be lawyers, activists, volunteer medics and journalists, the coalition said, along with “life-saving humanitarian aid and a message of solidarity from people around the world refusing to stay silent as Gaza is starved, bombed and buried under rubble”.
The FFC has been settling sail to Gaza since 2010, in a bid to break Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave. Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in 2007 after Hamas took control of the territory, and intensified its siege amid the war, launched in October 2023.
Very little aid has entered Gaza since, resulting in starvation and increasing cases of malnutrition and dehydration among men, women, children and the elderly.
“We are not governments. We are people, taking action where institutions have failed,” the FFC said in an official press release on Monday.
Rima Hassan posted on X: “The next Freedom Flotilla boat will leave in a few days.”
It is unclear, however, which activists will be on board and whether Hassan will once again participate.
The boat is named after the iconic Palestinian character Handala, a spikey-haired refugee child with his back turned towards injustice, created by political cartoonist Naji al-Ali.
The character has gone on to be among the most well-known national symbols of the Palestinian people and their struggle.
The previous vessel, Madleen, was named after Madleen Kulab, Gaza’s only fisherwoman.
The Handala vessel had previously sailed to ports across Europe and the UK in 2023 and 2024, engaging the public.
This mission is “for the children of Gaza,” the FFC said.
Â
