Sixteen ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla left Tunisia Sunday, aiming to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza and deliver urgent humanitarian aid.
Dozens of Brazilians, one of the biggest national contingents taking part, are among the hundreds of foreign activists on board, demonstrating their strong sympathy with the Palestinian people.
Due to its magnitude and the presence of prominent individuals such as lawmakers, union leaders, and social movement activists, the Brazilian delegation's participation has attracted interest from around the world.
Mariana Conti, a member of the flotilla and a city councilor from Campinas in São Paulo, emphasized the mission's dual goals of delivering help and increasing awareness worldwide.
“We are carrying prostheses and necessary things that the population of Gaza so desperately needs,”
Conti said in an interview aboard the ship before departure.
“We’ve done extensive training, especially focusing on safety and ensuring the mission remains peaceful and non-violent. The world is outraged by the deaths, the hunger, and the massacre of the population, especially children and women. But people often don’t know how to act. This mission shows that it is not only possible to act — it is necessary.”
Conti underlined the symbolic weight of the Brazilian presence, particularly given Brazil’s recent political shifts.
“This mission is about active solidarity, not just being spectators. The attacks we’ve faced, including the use of drones and incendiary devices, are criminal. They expose the inhumanity of the Israeli government and its terrorist methods against a humanitarian mission. Israel must be stopped, and the world, including Brazil, must impose limits.”
The Sirius boat's coordinator and speaker for the Brazilian team, Bruno Gilda Rocha, described the mission as "a direct confrontation against the machinery of genocide."
“The main objective is to break the illegal blockade imposed by the Zionist entity, the illegitimate State of Israel, and to stop this barbaric act,”
Rocha said.
“This flotilla is not just about delivering aid. It is about strengthening a global movement, breaking the media blockade, and amplifying the voices of oppressed people.”
According to Rocha, the delegation is bringing important supplies that are severely lacking because of Israel's continuous blockade, like medicine, infant formula, prosthetics, and basic consumables.
“We are also bringing symbolic gifts like drawings from European children. It’s not just about survival, it’s about reminding the people of Gaza that they are not alone.”
The mission will continue unabated, the Brazilian spokesperson said, despite threats from Israeli troops, including drone attacks that were recorded on two vessels in Tunisian waters.
“We face intimidation, but we’re not intimidated. Our unity is our strength. The genocide in Gaza must end, and Brazil must do more, not less. While other countries arm Israel, Brazil increased oil exports to Israel by 51% in 2024. That is unacceptable. Our presence here demands a break in all diplomatic, commercial, and military ties with Israel.”
The Arabic term "Sumud," which means "steadfastness," is the source of the Global Sumud Flotilla's name. In keeping with its name, the mission emphasizes its humanitarian and nonviolent nature, emphasizing that its goal is to save lives rather than provoke conflict.
“This is not a war mission. It is a peace mission,”
Conti reiterated.
“But the fact that it has already been attacked shows just how threatened the Israeli government feels by even non-violent actions. That alone reveals the cruelty and urgency of the situation.”
In order to link the Palestinian people's struggle to larger movements for justice throughout the Global South, the Brazilian delegation on board the Global Sumud Flotilla plays a crucial and symbolic role. Their involvement demonstrates a purposeful political position that goes beyond humanitarian concerns, emphasizing the connections between anti-imperialist resistance, international solidarity, and home resistance to authoritarianism and militarism.
As part of this effort, Brazilian activists are helping to build transnational alliances that challenge not only the blockade on Gaza but also the global systems that enable such blockades to persist.
Bruno Gilda Rocha, coordinator of the Brazilian delegation, emphasised the importance of escalating global pressure on governments complicit in the siege of Gaza.
“Our call is for the entire world to rise up with even greater force in defense of the Palestinian people, taking to the street, demanding that their governments break with Israel and stop this genocide,”
he stated.
Rocha also praised initiatives such as the port strikes in Genoa and Catalonia, and mass mobilisations by students across Europe, as examples of the kind of direct action necessary to support Gaza.
“The struggle of the Palestinian people is decisive in the fight against all oppression and capitalist exploitation; it is the struggle of all oppressed peoples,”
he added, situating the mission within a broader internationalist framework of resistance.
What legal protections apply to aid ships in international waters?
In accordance with normative international maritime law and conventions including the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS, 1974), International Convention on Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR, 1979) and United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) all ships, regardless of state or private ownership, have a duty to assist persons in distress at sea.
The duty to rescue is global and is dependent neither on the flag of the ship nor the nationality of the crew.
UNCLOS provides for the freedom of navigation on the high seas (international waters) where no one country has sovereignty. Peaceful ships, such as aid vessels, are entitled to navigate freely outside the territorial sea (12 nautical miles from any state’s coast).