Gaza Freedom Flotilla - Handala
2025
INTERCEPTED
Mission Information
Mission Organizer
Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Mission Stats
Mission Period
Jul 13 - Jul 26
25
Participants
15
Countries
13
Days
Mission Route
DEPARTURE
Syracuse, Italy
DESTINATION
Gaza, Palestine
WAYPOINTS
Gallipoli, Italy
Mission Outcome
INTERCEPTED
Aid Not Delivered
The Handala crew, after passing the point where another ship had been intercepted, spotted an Israeli drone overhead. Reports said Israel planned to deploy its Shayetet 13 commandos if the ship didn’t change course. Fearing interception, the crew sailed parallel to Egyptian waters and requested entry to Al-Arish. Before they could, Israeli forces boarded the ship in international waters, seized it, towed it to Ashdod, and detained the activists for deportation. One activist reported being severely beaten, while other crew members described enduring physical and psychological abuse.
Total Mission Casualties & Detentions
0
Killed
1
Injured
25
Detained
The July 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a civilian maritime mission organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid. The ship Handala departed from Syracuse, Italy, on 13 July 2025, carrying a diverse group of activists, medics, lawyers, journalists, and humanitarian supplies. It made a stop in Gallipoli between 15 and 20 July, before heading to Gaza. Its entry in the Gaza territorial waters, initially estimated between 27 and 28 July, was expected for the early hours of 27 July. Israel boarded and seized the ship in international waters in the late hours of 26 July, before it could reach its destination, and arrested the members of the crew.
Background
Further information: Freedom Flotilla Coalition, May 2025 drone attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla, and June 2025 Gaza Freedom Flotilla
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is an international network of grassroots organizations that has organized multiple missions to Gaza since 2010, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and draw global attention to the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. The July 2025 mission follows the interception of the coalition's previous vessel, Madleen, by Israeli forces in June 2025, during which volunteers including a member of the European Parliament and journalists were detained and deported.
After the October 7 attacks and during the ensuing Gaza war, Israel intensified its blockade on the Gaza Strip, labeling it as a total blockade denying the entry of food, water, medicine, fuel and electricity, causing high risk of famine and a humanitarian crisis that scholars have described as genocide. Due to Israeli checkpoints into Gaza which predate the October 7 attacks, the Israeli government and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have controlled the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza, with aid delivery disrupted multiple times over the years, either via Israeli government blockades or Israeli civilian protests. Additionally, since March 2, 2025, very little humanitarian aid has been allowed into Gaza, with concerns about famine in Gaza being raised by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Israel has announced that any action that leads to breaking the siege of Gaza will be met with failure.
For this mission the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is using the 20m long former Norwegian trawler Navaren/Navarn, MMSI 232061752, renamed as Handala after the iconic cartoon character created by Naji al-Ali, symbolizing Palestinian resistance and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.