First Tunisian ship departs as part of Gaza-bound aid flotilla to break Israeli siege

The first Tunisian ship participating in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla set sail Sunday from La Goulette, north of the capital Tunis, joining dozens of international vessels preparing to break Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave.

Organizers said the vessel carried five activists, including Tunisian artist Mohamed Amine Hamzaoui. It is the first Tunisian boat to leave as part of the Maghreb contingent of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which includes 23 North African vessels alongside 22 foreign ships.

On Sunday, three Spanish boats departed from Tunisia’s Bizerte port and are now en route to link up with the broader flotilla.

According to organizers, nearly 50 vessels with participants from 47 countries are currently gathered in Tunisian ports. The flotilla includes parliamentarians, artists and political figures from Europe, Latin America, the US, Pakistan, India and Malaysia.

The initiative began assembling last month, with ships departing from Barcelona, Spain, and Genoa, Italy. Over the past week, European boats arrived in Tunisian waters to join their Maghreb counterparts before continuing toward Gaza. Organizers described the mission as unprecedented, contrasting it with previous attempts involving single boats that were intercepted by Israel and their passengers deported.

This convoy is the largest of its kind, aiming to challenge the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where famine conditions have taken hold under Israel’s months-long closure of all crossings.

The Israeli army has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable, and led to starvation and spread of diseases.