Handala Activists ‘Upbeat’ as Aid Boat Continues Journey to Break Gaza Siege
The Handala departed from the southern Italian port of Gallipoli on Sunday, embarking on the final leg of its journey toward the besieged Gaza Strip.
Activists on board the civilian aid vessel, the Handala, remain optimistic in breaking the siege on Gaza despite the threat of Israel intercepting the boat, imprisonment or death.
“We’re so upbeat and happy to be out at sea,” human rights activist Robert Martin said in a voice message from the boat on Wednesday. “A little bit anxious but also know what we’re doing this for.”
Robert Martin, day 3 on ‘Handala’@Robert_Martin72 @GazaFFlotilla pic.twitter.com/1BTGvuE907
— Free Gaza Australia (@GFFAusGroup) July 23, 2025
The Handala departed from the southern Italian port of Gallipoli on Sunday, embarking on the final leg of its journey toward the besieged enclave. The initiative aims to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.
Humanitarian Supplies
According to a statement from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the Handala carries essential humanitarian supplies and “a message of solidarity from people across the world refusing to stay silent as Gaza is starved, bombed, and buried under rubble.”
Vigdis Bjorvand is a 70-year-old Norwegian activist whose commitment to justice spans nearly five decades. Since joining the Freedom Flotilla in 2023, she has participated in multiple missions, including Handala, Conscience, and Madleen. In 2025, she returned as Handala’s cook,… pic.twitter.com/BoW5FXGDUc
— Robert Martin 🇵🇸 (@Robert_Martin72) July 23, 2025
Describing the feeling on board the mission, Martin said “there are so many things that could happen.”
“We could die, we could get to Gaza, we could get intercepted at 100 nautical miles out. We could get imprisoned because we are most probably going to be kidnapped and they’ll board the ship in international waters,” Martin stated, adding that the team was preparing for every possibility.
‘Sense of Solidarity’
Chris Smalls, an American trade unionist and founder of the Amazon Labor Union, also speaking from the boat, said the team was “keeping the spirit of the Handala mission alive and focused on the people of Gaza who are starving and desperately need this aid.”
American activist and human rights attorney, Huwaida Arraf, lauded “the sense of solidarity and purpose going into this horror that we are sailing into” in terms of what is happening in Gaza as well as in terms of “what Israel is expected to do to us.”
Huwaida Arraf, Day 3 on ‘Handala’@huwaidaarraf pic.twitter.com/xtEwD6wiU2
— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) July 23, 2025
She said the “sense of camaraderie, purpose and support” amongst the team on board “is empowering.” Arraf was part of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla that was raided by Israeli forces in international waters. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the attack, and 30 were injured.
The team of 21 on board the Handala include European lawmakers, medics, rights activists, and journalists.
‘Sabotage’ Attempts
Just hours before the Handala was set to sail on Sunday, the FFC said the boat was “the target of two deeply alarming incidents that appear to be deliberate sabotage intended to obstruct our mission and harm our crew.”
A rope was discovered tightly wound around the boat’s propeller, the coalition said in a statement.
“This could not have occurred through normal use or by accident. It was a direct threat to the safety of our vessel and its ability to sail,” it stated.
Sulfuric Acid Attack, Propeller Tampering Reported ahead of Gaza Flotilla Launch
In addition, “the truck sent to deliver fresh water to our boat for washing and cooking on the journey, carried not water, but sulfuric acid.”
It splashed on a crew member’s leg, causing chemical burns, while another crew member who smelled the substance and opened the container sustained burns to his hand, the statement noted.
The FFC has called for an “immediate investigation and full accountability for these acts,” emphasizing that “we remain undeterred.”
It said the “attempt to harm our team and silence this mission will not succeed.”
Attack on the Madleen
Arraf, who is also a Freedom Flotilla steering committee member, emphasized that “The Flotilla is a collective act of conscience.”
“We are everyday people from around the world standing together to confront Israel’s ongoing war crimes and to affirm the right of Palestinians in Gaza to live with freedom and dignity,” she stated.
Spain Launches War Crimes Probe into Netanyahu, Officials over Madleen Attack
The Handala’s mission comes just weeks after Israeli forces intercepted another Freedom Flotilla boat, the Madleen, seizing it in international waters. All those on board were detained and forcibly taken to Israel, from where they were deported.
The boat is named after the Palestinian cartoon figure Handala, “a barefoot refugee child who turned his back on injustice and vowed not to turn around until Palestine is free.”
As of July 13, the UN confirmed 875 Palestinians in Gaza were killed while seeking food, 201 on aid routes and the rest at distribution points with thousands more injured. On Wednesday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health said the death toll was 1,060 with more than 7,207 injuries.
The total death toll since Israel’s genocidal assault on the enclave began in October 2023, was 59,219 killed and 143,045 injured, according to the Health Ministry.
(The Palestine Chronicle)