FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SICILY | May 2, 2026 — Just days after Israel’s assault on unarmed civilian vessels in international waters near Crete, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is pressing forward—not retreating. Today, four new vessels launched from Siracusa, determined not to give in to Israel’s violence and brutality.
Israel’s April 29 attack, carried out over 600 nautical miles (over 1100 km) from its shores, was not an act of “security.” It was piracy. It was state terrorism on the high seas. Sadly, the attack was not an isolated incident, but a pattern of lawlessness and aggression that has been enabled, normalized, and shielded by international inaction.
“The launch of our vessels today is a direct response to Israel’s escalation,” comments Colonel (Ret) and former US diplomat Ann Wright of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. “Israel’s April 29 attack should have triggered immediate international action. Instead, we see the same pattern of inaction that has enabled Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and across the region. So more people are stepping up—organizing across borders, launching vessels, and refusing to accept a world where war crimes and crimes against humanity are normalized, and civilians protesting them are met with armed force.”
As four FFC boats with 30 participants from 12 countries depart from Sicily, Freedom Flotilla Italia is simultaneously launching its nationwide “100 Ports, 100 Cities” campaign on May 2—bringing the mission from the water to communities across Italy and beyond. While governments continue to enable Israel through silence, complicity, and political cover, the flotilla and coordinated land mobilizations represent a collective act of global civil society intervention.
“Sailing to Gaza is both an act of solidarity and a call for accountability,” adds David Heap, another Freedom Flotilla Coalition spokesperson. “It tells Palestinians that they are not forgotten, and it tells those enabling these crimes that the world is watching, organizing, and acting; that we will not accept the violent, lawless world that they want to create for us. Our mission is not only to break the siege of Gaza—it is to confront the shameful silence of our governments that has enabled genocide.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition calls on the international community, civil society, and the media to demand accountability for Israel’s attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla. We call on all governments to guarantee safe passage for flotilla vessels and to uphold the basic principles of international law. And we call on all people of conscience: do not look away. We will not be deterred. We will not be silenced.
Follow the live video feeds: https://www.youtube.com/live/O-NNQzfCwLU
Track the flotilla here: https://freedomflotilla.org/ffc-tracker/ and here: https://mycaregazaflotilla.org.my/
About the Freedom Flotilla Coalition:
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is composed of civil society organizations and grassroots initiatives from across the globe. Since 2010, we have actively challenged Israel’s illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza by sea, continuing the powerful precedent set by the Free Gaza Movement, which began sailing boats to Gaza in 2008. Our actions aim to uphold international law and to support the Palestinian people’s rights to freedom of movement, self-determination, and dignity. The FFC is committed to confronting the complicity of governments, corporations, and institutions that enable and profit from Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid. See a list of FFC member campaigns and partners.
Media contact: media@freedomflotilla.org
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