Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise sailed alongside the Global Sumud Flotilla from Barcelona to Syracuse to support a peaceful civilian mission challenging the siege on Gaza and demanding safe, unhindered humanitarian access.
11 May 2026 update | Two members of the Global Sumud Flotilla freed
We are relieved to share that Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila have finally been released from Israeli detention. From organising the Global Sumud Flotilla to enduring a week of isolation, torture and a hunger strike, they have shown extraordinary resilience in the face of oppression.
Despite their ordeal, Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila used their release to draw attention to the countless Palestinian children, women and men still being held in arbitrary detention.
Their release is also testament to the power of collective action. When governments fail, civil society must step in to uphold human dignity. By uniting to apply relentless pressure on our leaders, we have proven that collective action works to secure their release.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Arctic Sunrise has located the flotilla ship, Mystere, which was left damaged and adrift at sea by Israeli forces. After deploying a small inflatable boat to document the damage and assess the vessel’s seaworthiness, our engineers found the ship in a dire state. All gauges were destroyed or ripped out, the sails were cut, and the engine was left open and filled with dust. These intentional acts of sabotage have rendered the Mystere unfit for use, extremely difficult to repair, and a danger to navigation.
8 May 2026 update | Arctic Sunrise departs for its next campaign as Greenpeace continues to call for an end to the siege of Gaza
As the Arctic Sunrise departs for its next campaign, Greenpeace is continuing to call for the protection of the Global Sumud Flotilla under international law.
From the Arctic Sunrise and on the ground in Italy, Greenpeace crew supported the flotilla throughout the first phases of its transit across the Mediterranean, carrying out more than 50 technical and operational interventions and helping prepare 25 ships in Sicily before departure.
After Israeli forces illegally boarded 22 vessels in international waters on 30 April 2026, Greenpeace worked with Open Arms to support the emergency response and stabilisation of the fleet. As the flotilla continues on its next leg from Crete, Greenpeace is urging governments to demand the immediate release of Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, safe passage for the flotilla, and an end to the siege of Gaza.
1 May 2026 update | Two crew members remain kidnapped after Israeli forces attacked and boarded flotilla vessels and abducted more than 175 people
Israeli forces attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla, damaged and disabled flotilla vessels and abducted over 175 people at gunpoint in international waters. Most of the abducted flotilla sailors have now been released, but two are still being held captive. We are calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the two civilians still held captive.
The remaining flotilla vessels have now reached the port of Ierapetra, Greece. The Greenpeace crew on the Arctic Sunrise ensured all remaining vessels were brought safely into port and provided essential assistance. Our role in providing logistical support continues. The Open Arms humanitarian rescue ship is currently retrieving vessels left adrift and is making sure no one is left behind at open sea.
Meanwhile, the humanitarian needs in Gaza remain overwhelming. The goal of the flotilla is to break Israel’s brutal siege of Gaza and deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people who continue to suffer horrific conditions and ongoing deadly attacks.
You can help by contacting your Ministry of Foreign Affairs to urge them to put diplomatic pressure on Israel. Insist on a safe return of the last two civilians and an end to the siege of Gaza. See Global Sumud Flotilla for updates.
30 April 2026 update | Israeli forces intercept and threaten Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters, a number of participants kidnapped
The Israeli military launched a violent intervention against flotilla vessels yesterday evening (April 29), and their attacks continued all night. It started with threatening radio messages and communication jamming, and it continued with the boarding of multiple flotilla boats and the abduction of the people onboard. You can read our press release here.
At this stage, it is still unclear how many boats have been boarded or damaged, how many people kidnapped and what will happen to them. Head here for Global Sumud Flotilla updates.
Our crew and campaign team on the Arctic Sunrise have not been in direct contact with the Israeli attackers, and are all safe. They have been active all night, and are still at work this morning, to guide flotilla vessels towards safer waters and to assess how we can contribute to further rescue work for damaged vessels.
26 April 2026 update | The Arctic Sunrise departs Syracuse, Italy with the Global Sumud Flotilla
The Arctic Sunrise has departed Syracuse, Italy, continuing its journey alongside the Global Sumud Flotilla as the fleet presses east across the Mediterranean. The flotilla now consists of more than 50 ships, making it the largest flotilla ever assembled to attempt to break the siege. More ships are expected to join later.
Together with humanitarian rescue organisation Open Arms, our crew is working around the clock to keep the flotilla moving, performing complex engine and gearbox overhauls, restoring electrical systems, delivering food supplies and transferring doctors between vessels. Our small boat teams are being pushed to the limit with demanding towing operations and rapid-response transfers, getting support where it is most needed.
The ship’s role is clear: to provide technical and operational maritime support to the people-led flotilla and assist the vessels in safely transiting across the Mediterranean before they complete the last 200 nautical miles onto Gaza’s shores.
This is an act of solidarity, practical support and non-violent resistance, rooted in the belief that when governments fail to protect life and uphold international law, people will still come together to act.
This mission builds on earlier flotilla efforts to break the silence around Gaza. In 2024 and 2025, previous flotillas challenged the blockade and drew international attention to the humanitarian crisis. In September 2025, the Sumud Flotilla sailed with 42 boats and 462 people before Israeli forces intercepted and forcibly boarded the vessels about 70 nautical miles off the Gaza coast, cutting communications and jamming signals.
The 2026 flotilla continues that same spirit of civilian resistance, but on a larger scale and with renewed determination to demand humanitarian access and justice.
Why this matters now – children, medics, journalists, aid workers, humanity
Gaza has been subjected to a scale of death and destruction that is almost impossible to absorb. Between 7 October 2023 and 14 January 2026, 71,439 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 171,324 injured, according to Gaza health ministry figures reported by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
As of mid-February 2026, around 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.1 million people were displaced, with many living in roughly 1,000 makeshift sites. Even after the October 2025 “ceasefire” announcement, OCHA said hundreds more Palestinians were killed, with the reported toll since that announcement rising to 689 by late March 2026.
The genocide in Gaza has also been marked by the killing of the very people trying to save lives and tell the world what is happening – aid workers and journalists.
Amnesty International said at least 408 aid workers had been killed in Gaza since 7 October 2023, including at least 280 UNRWA staff and 34 Palestine Red Crescent Society staff. The New Humanitarian described Gaza’s aid worker death toll as unprecedented, noting that in just three months the number of humanitarians killed there exceeded the deadliest year ever recorded globally for aid workers.
Press freedom groups have described this as the deadliest conflict for journalists since CPJ began recording such data in 1992, and a June 2025 public appeal said nearly 200 journalists had been killed by the Israeli military over 20 months.
In a small, enclosed territory, that concentration of civilian killing, displacement, hunger and attacks on medics, aid workers and reporters has become a defining feature of the war. And it’s spreading.
As Ghiwa Nakat, executive director of Greenpeace Middle East and North Africa says, “The devastation inflicted on Gaza has become a dangerous doctrine of impunity, now spreading to Lebanon through massacres, relentless destruction, and deepening human suffering. The Greenpeace ship is joining this people-led mission to demand safe, unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and to challenge the illegal blockade that continues to devastate civilian life. We stand firmly against war crimes, deliberate starvation, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and ecocide. This flotilla is a call to governments around the world to end their silence, protect humanitarian action, and act with urgency and principle to uphold international law, human dignity, and justice.”
War is scarring lives, ecosystems and the region for decades
War does not only destroy homes and families. It poisons land and water, wrecks food systems, leaves mountains of toxic rubble and turns recovery into a struggle that can last for generations.
Analysis estimated that the first 120 days of the war generated a mean 536,410 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, with 90% linked to Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza. The same analysis highlighted heavy metal contamination and severe damage to air, water and land, and found that by May 2024 around 57% of Gaza’s cropland had been damaged.
Across the region, war and militarisation are tearing through ecosystems, livelihoods and public health, from Gaza to Lebanon, Iran, and beyond. That is why peace, justice and environmental protection cannot be separated: a liveable future depends on all three.
What you can do
Follow the Global Sumud Flotilla and share verified updates, especially on Instagram and Facebook, so that Gaza is not pushed out of view.
Support calls for a permanent ceasefire, unhindered humanitarian access, a comprehensive arms embargo and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine.
You can take action by signing petitions, including:
- Greenpeace Nordic – Tell Equinor to end the partnership with Ithaca Energy and cancel the Rosebank oil field
- Greenpeace UK – Stop British-made weapons being used in Gaza
- Greenpeace Spain – No más armas para el genocidio en Gaza
- Greenpeace Aotearoa – Call for sanction on Israel
- Greenpeace MENA – Join MENA voices calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza
- Greenpeace Canada – Tell Canada to stop arming Israel
- Greenpeace Indonesia – Global Sumud Flotilla: Let’s break the siege
- Amnesty International – Lift the blockade on Gaza and stop the genocide
- Doctors Without Borders – Stop the genocide. Let Gaza live
The Global Sumud Flotilla details how its supporters can play a crucial role by:
- Organising actions and demonstrations
- Amplifying verified mission updates
- Pressuring governments to uphold international law
- Supporting Palestinian-led relief and reconstruction efforts.
With mass displacement, shattered infrastructure and urgent humanitarian needs still defining daily life in Gaza, every bit of solidarity makes a difference.
Fair winds and following seas to all sailing for peace and justice.
Pujarini Sen is project lead for the Greenpeace Arctic Sunrise ship joining the Global Sumud Flotilla
