The Handala, undertaking the Freedom Flotilla’s 37th mission in 18 years, approached Gaza’s waters on Tuesday evening, triggering the Israeli maritime security blockade. Live footage showed Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers boarding the vessel to identify those on board. “The IDF is enforcing a maritime security blockade on the Gaza Strip and is prepared for various scenarios,” the military stated.
Aboard were 21 activists from 10 different nationalities affiliated with the pro-Palestinian NGO, including two Italians. They awaited the inevitable IDF interception and arrest, a trap they entered voluntarily and alone. The NGO accused them of doing “what the international community should do.” The activists announced a collective hunger strike upon arrest, protesting not only Israel and what they termed the “genocide” in Gaza, but also targeting “the governments of the world that have failed to defend international law,” “abandoned the Palestinians,” and “disappointed humanity.” A dramatic post by the Handala crew on X demanded these governments be “held responsible” and called on the activists’ 10 home countries to provide “protection and safe passage for their citizens onboard,” who “are doing what governments should do”: delivering humanitarian aid to “break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza.”
The crew includes Italian skipper Tony La Piccirella from Bari and Sicilian blogger Antonio Mazzeo. “If they stop us,” La Piccirella told ANSA by phone before the interception, “it will be because governments failed to protect the mission and allowed an illegal action in international waters, violating all rights and international laws. If they take us to Ashdod, it will be against our will; we will be kidnapped, with the IDF taking control of the vessel in an armed military operation.”
The Handala, a former Norwegian fishing boat, departed Syracuse, Italy, on July 13th and stopped in Gallipoli, Puglia, on the 18th to pick up two French activists and a symbolic cargo of food, medicine, powdered milk, and toys for Gaza’s children. On Tuesday afternoon, it passed the point where the previous Flotilla mission – the sailing boat Madleen carrying MEP Rima Hassan and notably Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (labelled “antisemitic” by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz) – was intercepted on June 9th and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod. “We,” La Piccirella stated, “only have certainty about our intentions. We are 21: there are doctors, nurses, journalists, human rights activists. It’s a diverse group, including people from the US, Canada, France, and Tunisia.”
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