Two French sailboats will depart from Marseille on April 4th and join a new international flotilla of about a hundred boats with the aim of “breaking” the Israeli blockade and reaching Gaza, the organizers announced on Monday, March 30th.
“Our message is essentially political,” said Claude Léostic, from the France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS), during a press conference, referring to an initiative of “solidarity with the Palestinian people who are under genocide and blockade in Gaza.”
In the fall of 2025, a fleet of about fifty boats featuring political figures and activists such as the Swedish Greta Thunberg, was illegally intercepted by the Israeli navy according to the organizers and Amnesty International. They were detained and expelled by Israel.
“Come, we are waiting for you”
These two French boats will also carry “medicines” and “food,” said Claude Léostic, alongside representatives of this coalition of about thirty members, including Urgence Palestine, Attac, Union syndicale Solidaires, CGT federations, and La France insoumise.
“With 100 boats, we have a chance that some will get through,” said Claude Léostic. “And if some boats manage to reach Gaza, symbolically it’s extremely powerful, the blockade will have been broken,” she emphasized, adding: “Our Palestinian friends in Gaza tell us, ‘come, we are waiting for you’.”
“The flotilla is the strongest, most impacting movement in terms of media coverage to keep Palestine on the international stage,” explained Meriem Hadjal from the organization “Waves of Freedom France,” which will sail towards Gaza at a time when the Middle East conflict is in the headlines.
“It’s not a cruise”
“It’s not a cruise, it’s a militant march that we understand the risks of,” insisted Claude Léostic, referring to the Israeli-American war against Iran and the conflict in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel.
“If things deteriorate further in the eastern Mediterranean, we could change our route, our deadlines,” she explained. This French coalition, named “Flotilla Freedom for Gaza,” will join the flotillas of the “Thousand Madleens” and the “Global Sumud Flotilla.”
“We will sail together towards Gaza,” around April 20th, said Claude Léostic, mentioning a one-week stopover in southern Italy beforehand for “non-violence training.”
Gaza, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement accuse each other of violating the ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, after two years of war. Accusations of genocide committed by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza have been on the rise, accusations that Israel denies.
