Following years of intermittent aid attempts and amid continued restrictions on access to Gaza, a new international effort is underway to challenge the existing maritime blockade. Organizers are actively recruiting crew and soliciting resources for a planned flotilla-dubbed “Thousand Madleens to Gaza“-scheduled to potentially set sail next spring. The initiative, spearheaded by groups including the NGO mediterranea Saving Humans, seeks to draw attention to the humanitarian situation in the region and deliver support to Palestinian civilians.
Organizers are laying the groundwork for a new maritime mission aimed at challenging the blockade of Gaza, according to recent online announcements. The effort, which is still in its early stages, is seeking crew members and resources for a potential flotilla to set sail next spring, when weather conditions are expected to be more favorable.
The initiative, announced in posts shared by various activist groups including the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, is calling for volunteers to join the “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” crew. “Join the maritime crew,” reads one announcement, outlining the need for personnel and supplies. “Let’s break the siege on the Palestinian people” is the rallying cry used to recruit participants, who will undergo interviews before being selected for the team.
Organizers are specifically seeking experienced maritime professionals, including skippers and sailors, as well as individuals with technical skills such as mechanics, riggers, carpenters, and surveyors. They are also requesting access to vessels, docking space, and storage facilities. The scope of these requests suggests plans for a coordinated fleet, rather than a single ship.
“For the next mission from the sea, we are looking for: skippers, sailors, boats, berths, maritime technicians (mechanics, riggers, carpenters, blacksmiths, surveyors, port workers, etc.),” the announcement states. “Maritime safety and navigation equipment, contacts with ports and marinas, warehouses and storage spaces” are also needed.
The effort builds on previous attempts to deliver aid to Gaza by sea, and reflects ongoing international concern over the humanitarian situation in the region. According to a manifesto accompanying the recruitment drive, “Our first wave showed that with collective action, every change is possible. That gestures of concrete solidarity can depart from the sea, capable of breaking the silence and international complicity.”
“Today that strength must grow: a second fleet is necessary, and to build it we need everyone’s help,” the post continues, noting a “discreet” number of inquiries from potential participants. The team is actively building “a network of skills, materials and contacts on the territory, to transform solidarity into concrete capacity.”
“Solidarity is not a slogan: it is a practice. The second fleet depends on all of us. Let’s put to sea a collective response to the siege,” organizers stated. They emphasize that the initiative aims to translate support into tangible action.
