Supporters gather in Brussels to back new humanitarian flotilla to Gaza

The Belgian delegation of the Global Sumud Flotilla organised an event in Brussels on Sunday to mark the departure of part of a new humanitarian flotilla from Barcelona. A group of proponents, including Princess Maria-Esmeralda, expressed their support.

In total, more than 70 vessels and around 1,000 participants from 70 countries will form part of the flotilla. A few Belgians have already set sail from Barcelona, whilst the majority of the Belgian delegation will set sail around 22 April from Catania, in Sicily.

Several prominent supporters, including Princess Maria-Esmeralda (via videoconference), Alexis Deswaef, president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and a former participant in the flotilla in autumn 2025, were present at the event in Brussels. Various trade unions were also present to express their support.

The flotilla’s three main objectives were reiterated: to challenge the blockade imposed on Gaza, to deliver humanitarian aid, particularly food, and to support the initial phases of reconstruction on the ground.

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In autumn 2025, after crossing the Mediterranean for several weeks, a flotilla from the “Global Sumud Flotilla” was intercepted and those on board were arrested by the Israeli army as they approached Gaza, which was then suffering from severe shortages of food, water, medicines and fuel.

The Gaza Strip is subject to a ceasefire agreed last October, following two years of a devastating conflict triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which left 1,221 people dead, mainly civilians, according to official Israeli figures compiled by AFP. Israeli military operations carried out in retaliation have caused the deaths of more than 70,000 people in this Palestinian territory, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel and Hamas accuse each other of violating the truce.

^{Boats taking part in the Global Sumud Flotilla sail out of Barcelona for Gaza © PHOTO Matthias Oesterle/ZUMA Press Wire}