BARCELONA: A Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and pro-Palestinian activists including environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg departed Barcelona again on Monday, several hours after winds forced it to return to the Spanish port, according to AFP journalists at the scene.
Around 20 vessels left the Spanish city on Sunday aiming to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people” amid the Israel-Hamas war, said the Global Sumud Flotilla — sumud being the Arabic term for “resilience.”
But “due to unsafe weather conditions,” the flotilla returned to port “to allow the storm to pass,” the organization said in an earlier statement, without specifying when exactly the boats returned to Barcelona.
“We made this decision to prioritize the safety and well-being of all participants and to safeguard the success of our mission,” it added, citing gusts that exceeded 55 kilometers (34 miles) per hour.
Organizers said they were especially concerned about the risk the weather posed to the smaller boats.
Spain’s national weather agency AEMET had issued warnings of rainfall and strong storms for the northeastern region of Catalonia which includes Barcelona.
The activists from dozens of countries included Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and Spain’s Eduard Fernandez, as well as European lawmakers and public figures, including former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza in mid-September and comes after Israel blocked two activist attempts to deliver aid to the devastated Palestinian territory by ship in June and July.
The United Nations has declared a famine in Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” conditions.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,219 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data.
Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, with 47 still held in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable.
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Gaza aid flotilla departs Barcelona again: AFP journalists
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Gaza aid flotilla departs Barcelona again: AFP journalists
- Around 20 vessels left the Spanish city on Sunday aiming to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”
- But “due to unsafe weather conditions,” the flotilla returned to port “to allow the storm to pass,” the organization said
More than 150 Palestinians were held on a plane for around 12 hours in South Africa
JOHANNESBURG: South African authorities faced heavy criticism Friday after they held more than 150 Palestinians, including a woman who is nine months pregnant, on a plane for around 12 hours due to complications with their travel documents.
A pastor who was allowed to meet with the passengers while they were still stuck on the plane said it was very extremely and that children were screaming and crying.
The Palestinians landed on a charter plane at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning after a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, South Africa’s Border Management Authority said in a statement.
The Palestinian passengers did not have exit stamps from Israeli authorities, did not indicate how long they would be staying in South Africa and had not given local addresses, leading immigration authorities to deny them entry, the statement said.
The 153 passengers including families and children were allowed to leave the plane on Thursday night after South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs intervened and a local non-governmental organization called Gift of the Givers offered to accommodate them. The Border Management Authority said 23 passengers had since traveled on to other countries, leaving 130 in South Africa.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said it was the second plane carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the last two weeks and that the passengers themselves did not know where they were going. He said both planes were believed to be carrying people from war-torn Gaza.
It was not immediately clear who organized the charter plane.
A South African pastor who was given access to the plane while it was on the tarmac told national broadcaster SABC that many of the Palestinians now intended to claim asylum in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and the treatment of the travelers has sparked anger.
“It’s dire,” Nigel Branken, the pastor, said in an interview with SABC on Thursday from the plane as he described the conditions. “When I came onto the plane it was excruciatingly hot. There were lots of children just sweating and screaming and crying.”
“I do not believe this is what South Africa is about. South Africa should be letting these people into the airport at the very least and letting them apply for asylum. This is their basic fundamental right guaranteed in our constitution.”
A pastor who was allowed to meet with the passengers while they were still stuck on the plane said it was very extremely and that children were screaming and crying.
The Palestinians landed on a charter plane at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning after a stopover in Nairobi, Kenya, South Africa’s Border Management Authority said in a statement.
The Palestinian passengers did not have exit stamps from Israeli authorities, did not indicate how long they would be staying in South Africa and had not given local addresses, leading immigration authorities to deny them entry, the statement said.
The 153 passengers including families and children were allowed to leave the plane on Thursday night after South Africa’s Ministry of Home Affairs intervened and a local non-governmental organization called Gift of the Givers offered to accommodate them. The Border Management Authority said 23 passengers had since traveled on to other countries, leaving 130 in South Africa.
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said it was the second plane carrying Palestinians to land in South Africa in the last two weeks and that the passengers themselves did not know where they were going. He said both planes were believed to be carrying people from war-torn Gaza.
It was not immediately clear who organized the charter plane.
A South African pastor who was given access to the plane while it was on the tarmac told national broadcaster SABC that many of the Palestinians now intended to claim asylum in South Africa.
South Africa has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause and the treatment of the travelers has sparked anger.
“It’s dire,” Nigel Branken, the pastor, said in an interview with SABC on Thursday from the plane as he described the conditions. “When I came onto the plane it was excruciatingly hot. There were lots of children just sweating and screaming and crying.”
“I do not believe this is what South Africa is about. South Africa should be letting these people into the airport at the very least and letting them apply for asylum. This is their basic fundamental right guaranteed in our constitution.”
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