A senior Turkish pro-Palestinian flotilla activist said Saturday in Istanbul that preparations had begun for a new Global Sumud Flotilla mission toward the Gaza Strip, according to remarks delivered at the Turkish branch’s “Council of Ideas.”
Behesti Ismail Songur, president of the Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association and a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla leadership, said the mission would seek to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
Songur said the new effort was expected to depart “in the coming months,” with organizers promising more vessels and broader international participation than in the flotillas launched earlier this spring. The Istanbul event included Palestinian flags, participants wearing keffiyehs, and support from Turkish media and political figures.
“The Global Sumud Flotilla is setting out on a new mission toward Gaza, with the aim of breaking the blockade and highlighting the humanitarian situation in the Strip,” Songur said at the event.
The Global Sumud Flotilla has previously pledged to continue sending vessels to Gaza, but the announcement from Turkey is the most concrete signal so far of a renewed maritime effort. It did not include a specific date for departure.
Israel intercepted previous flotillas
The announcement came weeks after Israeli naval forces intercepted the organization’s spring 2026 flotillas in international waters. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli forces intercepted most of 54 vessels carrying about 500 activists west of Cyprus, while the Foreign Ministry later said all flotilla activists had been deported from Israel.
Dozens of vessels, including a large Turkish group that had departed from Marmaris, were stopped, and hundreds of activists were taken to Israel before being detained and deported. Many returned to Turkey.
Despite the operational failure, organizers, including Turkish groups such as IHH and the Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association, have described the flotillas as a media success and vowed to continue maritime pressure on Israel with a larger force.
IHH describes itself as a nongovernmental humanitarian aid organization and has held special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. In Israel, however, the group is best known for its role in the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla, when Israeli commandos boarded the vessel as it attempted to breach the Gaza naval blockade, leading to violent clashes in which 10 Turkish activists were killed.
Israel has pointed to alleged links between IHH activists and Hamas or other Islamist groups. IHH has rejected such allegations and says its work is humanitarian.
Israel expected to monitor preparations
Israel views the flotillas as provocations and public relations efforts aimed at generating international confrontation and undermining the legitimacy of Israel’s Gaza naval blockade. Israeli officials have said they will not allow any breach of what they describe as a lawful security blockade.
The defense establishment and Foreign Ministry are expected to continue monitoring the preparations and public statements surrounding any new flotilla. Israel is expected to prepare accordingly, as it did in previous attempts.
In a parallel development, 10 international activists from the Global Sumud land convoy remain detained in Benghazi, Libya, after being arrested in late May by forces affiliated with Khalifa Haftar, according to the organization and human rights groups.
The land convoy had sought to coordinate with the maritime flotilla and move toward Gaza via Egypt. The Post reported that the activists were detained near Sirte after attempting to negotiate passage through eastern Libya, and that the convoy later dissolved after being denied entry into the eastern part of the country.
Global Sumud and Amnesty International have called for the detainees’ immediate release.
