The Freedom Flotilla Sets Sail Again
Handala Sets Out to Break the Blockade for the Children of Gaza
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition will launch the Handala ship from Italy on July 13, 2025. This civilian vessel is setting out to challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly blockade on Gaza. The ship carries both life-saving humanitarian aid and a powerful message of solidarity from people across the world who refuse to remain silent as the people of Gaza struggle to survive under hunger, bombardment, and the rubble of their destroyed homes.
This mission comes just weeks after Israel’s unlawful attack on another Freedom Flotilla ship, Madleen. In international waters, Israeli forces illegally seized the vessel and kidnapped twelve unarmed civilians—including a Member of the European Parliament, a doctor, journalists, and human rights defenders—taking them by force to Israel. There, they were interrogated, mistreated, and eventually deported. What was their “crime”? Attempting to deliver food, medicine, and solidarity to a besieged population.
We Will Not Back Down
Handala sets sail in the shadow of ongoing mass atrocities. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, since Israel resumed its assaults after breaking the ceasefire on March 18, 2025, at least 6,572 Palestinians have been killed and more than 23,000 wounded. Over 700 of the dead were struck while waiting in line for food at distribution points controlled by the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Aid Agency. These sites, disguised as relief centers, are in fact deadly traps—tools of control and oppression that serve Israel’s genocidal agenda.
Like Madleen and others before it, Handala is part of the international Freedom Flotilla that has been sailing against the blockade since 2010. On board are volunteer medical personnel, lawyers, social justice activists, journalists, and community organizers. We are not governments. We are ordinary people, stepping up where institutions have failed.
For the Children of Gaza
This boat is named after Handala, the iconic Palestinian cartoon character—the barefoot refugee boy who turns his back on injustice. Handala vowed never to turn around until Palestine is free. This ship carries his spirit, and with it, the hope of every child in Gaza who has been stripped of safety, dignity, and joy.
In 2023 and 2024, the Handala ship visited ports across Europe and the UK, breaking through the media blockade. At every stop, it engaged the public through press events, art installations, and political education programs—building global solidarity.
Children make up over half of Gaza’s population. Their entire lives have been lived under brutal siege. Since October 2023, over 50,000 children have been killed or wounded, tens of thousands orphaned, and nearly one million forcibly displaced. Today, they face starvation, disease, and traumas beyond what most of us can imagine.
This mission is for them.