Freedom Flotilla Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is 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 who enable and profit from the Israeli Occupation, Apartheid, and War Crimes, until the blockade is unconditionally lifted. As long as governments refuse to act, civil society will take non-violent, direct actions to challenge the blockade and expose the complicity and silence that sustains it.

Who and where are the Freedom Flotilla campaigns and partners?

FFC campaigns include: Canadian Boat to Gaza, Freedom Flotilla Italia, MyCARE Malaysia, Kia Ora Gaza Aotearoa / NZ, Ship to Gaza Norway, Palestine Solidarity Alliance South Africa, Rumbo a Gaza Spain, Ship to Gaza Sweden, iHH, Mavi Marmara Türkiye, US Boats to Gaza, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza, Free Gaza Australia, Gaza Freedom Flotilla Cobh Ireland, Freedom Flotilla Brasil, and Gaza Freiheitsflottille.

Our partners include the Platform of NGOs for Palestine in France, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and We Are Not Numbers in Gaza.

What is your connection with the other maritime initiatives against the blockade of Gaza?

We support all efforts to break Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, including the Global Sumud Flotilla and the Thousand Madleens. As we prepare another Freedom Flotilla Coalition challenge to the illegal and inhumane blockade of Gaza, some individuals and member campaigns in our Coalition are supporting other efforts with their advice and expertise based on our 15+ years of experience of sailing for Gaza.

When is the Freedom Flotilla sailing?

In 2026, the FFC continues its mission to end Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza through nonviolent direct action. 2025 was marked by four attempts to sail, from Malta and Italy, with humanitarian aid and hundreds of international human rights defenders. In 2025, following the bombing of ‘Conscience’ by two drones in May, ‘Madleen’ sailed in June with 12 people on board. In July, ‘Handala’ sailed with 21 people on board. In October we partnered with the Thousand Madleens to Gaza and sailed ‘Conscience’ along with 8 sail boats. Our missions remain urgent, as Israel continues to violate international law by obstructing the entry of life-saving aid and collectively punishing Palestinians in Gaza.

All upcoming actions are a legitimate challenge to Israel’s genocidal regime, demanding freedom of movement and self-determination for Palestinians, and an end to Israel’s unlawful domination over Gaza.

Please follow our official channels (https://linktr.ee/freedomflotillacoalition) for updates on our departures and our missions via Instagram, Facebook, X, Telegram, TikTok, BlueSky and LinkedIn.

Who will be on board?

Volunteers register to join FFC, united by a shared commitment to justice, international law, and peaceful resistance. After a thorough vetting process, we select volunteers from different countries, welcoming representatives from civil society including politicians, activists, journalists, trade union leaders, artists, academics, faith leaders and students. Read more about some of our past volunteers, including those on the 2016 Women’s Boat to Gaza, the 2018 Just Future for Palestine, and during our 2023-2024 For the Children of Gaza voyage.

Where are participants from?

Our recent and current missions have included passport holders from: Algeria, Aotearoa/New Zealand, so-called Australia , Brazil, Turtle Island/Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Kingdom, and Turtle Island/United States. The number of countries represented on a given mission depends in part of the size of the boat(s) involved.

Why are so many countries represented?

This is an international civilian mission responding to international failure by governments and institutions. Representation from across the world reflects the global consensus against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, against government complicity in aiding or profiting from Israel’s war crimes, and highlights our collective refusal to remain silent. Our mission also relies on global media coverage and political pressure on countries across the world to exert their influence on Israel to stop its slaughter of Palestinians.

Will the Freedom Flotilla allow Israeli officials to inspect the ship contents, including the humanitarian aid?

No. The FFC acts in full compliance with maritime law. Third parties inspect our vessels to ensure that no dangerous goods are brought on board. Israel has a long history of weaponizing “inspection” as a pretext to block or delay critical aid, often banning essential items under false “dual use” claims, including water filters, anaesthetics, and other medical equipment.

The international community has allowed Israel to impede and completely halt humanitarian aid for too long, allowing for their calculated and forced starvation of the people in Gaza. We categorically reject inspections by the very military force responsible for the siege, genocide, famine, and brutal war crimes. In accordance with the International Court of Justice’s ruling in 2024 we reject Israel’s control over the delivery of aid and its use of starvation as a weapon of war.

All our direct actions are a legitimate challenge to Israel’s genocidal regime, demanding freedom of movement and self-determination for Palestinians, and an end to Israel’s unlawful domination over Gaza.

Where will you sail from and where from?

Vessels depart from ports in the Mediterranean. When exact details are confirmed and safe to share, they will be broadcast across our social media channels and on our website.

What is your destination?

Gaza, Palestine.

What if Israeli forces do not allow access to Gaza?

Israel has repeatedly attacked past Flotilla actions, including hijacking vessels in international waters, tasering and physically assaulting volunteers, kidnapping and detaining activists without legal justification, interrogating and then deporting human rights defenders. In their attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, they murdered 10 civilians and injured dozens more.

As always, the FFC will be sailing through international waters and into Palestinian territorial waters, where we have the legal right to navigate and deliver humanitarian aid. Any interference by Israel would be a breach of the International Court of Justice’s order in March 2024 for Israel to stop “preventing, through any action, the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance”. It would also constitute a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
As UN Experts stated in April 2024: “The Freedom Flotilla has the right of free passage in international waters and Israel must not interfere with its freedom of navigation, long recognised under international law.”

If Israel prevents the FFC from safely reaching Gaza, and our governments’ complicity allows Israel to do so, it will be repeating a well-documented pattern of unlawful violence. It will also further delay critical aid to Palestinians in Gaza and violate binding legal orders from international bodies.

Citizens and governments around the world must not look away. They must uphold international law, protect this mission and our volunteers, and end their complicity in the blockade and genocide of the Palestinian people. We call on the international community to hold Israel accountable.

Are the Freedom Flotilla missions risky?

Yes, but the greater risk lies in the political impunity that allows Israel and their allies to continue the genocide against Palestinian people in Gaza, and in doing nothing about it. This question is better directed to world leaders – what are they doing to prevent Israel from killing and harming civilians, both Palestinians and internationals?

FFC volunteers who sail to Gaza risk violence from the Israeli military when our governments fail to protect civilians who act in solidarity. If harm comes to us, the responsibility lies with Israel and with the governments that fund, arm, and politically shield its crimes, especially those that claim to stand for human rights and international law while enabling and profiting from this genocide.

Palestinians in Gaza and across Palestine face daily violence, displacement, starvation, and death. The risks we take pale in comparison with those faced every day by Palestinian people in Gaza, who have no choice about living in an occupied territory that is regularly attacked. We sail in peaceful resistance, refusing to remain passive in the face of mass atrocity.

Why are Freedom Flotilla missions important?

Since over half of the Palestinians in Gaza are children, it is important to highlight to the world that the blockade of Gaza affects them most. Palestinian children living in Gaza, as well as the West Bank and diaspora, have been denied basic human rights for decades. Those violations of rights, from freedom of movement to the right to return, have been exacerbated for Palestinians in Gaza since 2006 because of the near-hermetic closure that Israel imposed on Gaza as well as its decades of belligerent, violent occupation.

As the result of a deliberate policy decision by the Israeli government to starve the Palestinian people, the situation in Gaza becomes more dire each day, with widespread famine and catastrophic hunger spreading throughout Gaza. A lack of medical supplies and operational clinics or hospitals to treat injuries has led to an intentional spreading of disease, infection, and death.
Time is critical as experts predict that hunger and disease may claim more lives than have been killed by direct fire.

Is the Freedom Flotilla a nonviolent initiative?

Yes. Our goal is to peacefully end the illegal Israeli blockade, so every voyage we undertake is grounded in nonviolent direct action. All volunteers receive training in nonviolent resistance, preparation for potential arrest or detention, and principles of solidarity and anti-oppression.

We do not carry weapons. We counter state violence with peaceful defiance. The only weapons that appear on our vessels are those brought by the Israeli military when they hijack, raid, or attack us, as they have done in many previous years. The Israeli military brought weapons on board during Israel’s deadly attack on the Mavi Marmara in 2010, where they murdered 10 volunteers, and wounded dozens more. Armed Israeli military have hijacked our subsequent missions.

Do Flotilla vessels take aid to Gaza?

Yes. We carry humanitarian aid aboard all of our vessels. But while getting humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza is urgent, it is not sufficient to make the blockade conditions slightly more tolerable. An alarming number of Palestinians in Gaza are also dependent on aid because of political decisions by governments that are complicit in or profiting from Israel’s genocidal campaign.

Our goal is to end the illegal Israeli blockade that creates the need for aid in the first place. In addition to modest amounts of aid, our most important cargo is always human solidarity. Our vessels carry international witnesses, journalists, and human rights defenders. We hope that by reaching the shores of Gaza, this voyage will open a people’s corridor for more aid and support to reach Palestine by sea and by land, and more importantly, for the Palestinian people to safely use their own territorial waters for fishing, other maritime resources, travel, exports and imports.

Does the Freedom Flotilla support Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS)?

Yes. BDS is a Palestinian-led, non-violent global movement for freedom, justice and equality. It upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. FFC partners support the Palestinian call for Boycott Divestment Sanctions. Please go to individual partner pages for information and activities in your area, or find a BDS campaign near you.

While we focus on opposing the illegal blockade against the Palestinian people of Gaza, we see this in the larger context of supporting the right to freedom of movement for all Palestinians. We support these broad-based demands for Palestinian rights based in International Law, including:

1. 1. Ending the illegal Israeli occupation and colonisation of all Palestinian land and dismantling the Apartheid Wall, in line with the 2004 opinion of the International Court of Justice;
   2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel to equality; and
   3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UNGA Resolution 194 of December 11, 1948.

How do Freedom Flotilla missions relate to refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean to reach Europe?

We believe that all refugee crises stem in part from a lack of political will to solve situations which force people to leave their homes in search of safety. These are driven by imperialism, war, occupation, climate injustice, and the refusal of powerful states to support human rights or peaceful political solutions.

Palestinians are among the world’s largest and longest-displaced refugee populations, with over 5 million registered refugees. More than 70% of Gaza’s population are refugees. Freedom of movement is a basic right, but unlike others crossing the Mediterranean, Palestinians in Gaza are completely trapped, not able to flee for safety by sea, land or air. Refugees, including Palestinians, must have the right to move freely and to live with dignity in their homeland, not in exile.

How can I support the campaign?

Our missions face naval, media, diplomatic, and political blockades. Since mainstream media fails to report on Israel’s violence, we often face a “media blockade”, which further endangers our volunteers at sea. This is why it is essential for you to become a “volunteer on land.” You don’t need to be sailing to be part of this movement.

Other than the suggestions listed here, you can also help by:

• Amplifying Freedom Flotilla news. Share our updates and content on  Instagram,  Facebook,  X,  Telegram, TikTok, Bluesky and LinkedIn, find all our channels and important updates here: https://linktr.ee/freedomflotillacoalition
• Pushing your media: Confront the media blockade that shields Israeli aggression and silences Palestinian voices. Share and amplify stories that show the truth about our work and that portray Palestinians, especially those in Gaza, as human beings that have the same rights as anyone else.
• Pressuring your politicians: Contact local, national, and international representatives. Demand they speak out, ensure our safe passage, take action to break the blockade of Gaza and support Palestinian human rights.

The more people watching and taking action, the safer our volunteers will be.