-SICILY, ITALY — SEPT. 11, 2025: Italian boats have started to depart from Sicily on Thursday, Sept. 11, to join the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla, an international convoy aiming to deliver aid and highlight the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory. Among those on board are European Parliament members Benedetta Scuderi and Annalisa Corrado, along with Democratic Party (PD) lawmaker Arturo Scotto and Five Star Movement (M5S) Senator Marco Croatti. The vessels had been undergoing preparations in eastern Sicily for several weeks ahead of their departure. On Sunday, about 20 ships from Spain, part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, began arriving in Tunisia in preparation for heading toward Gaza to break Israel’s blockade and open a humanitarian corridor to deliver aid. At the end of August, around 20 ships set sail within the flotilla from the port of Barcelona, Spain along with another convoy that departed from the port of Genoa in northwestern Italy. The flotilla is made up of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Global Movement to Gaza, the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla and the Malaysian Nusantara Resistance Organization, bringing together hundreds of activists from more than 40 countries. The convoy is the largest of its kind to date, as previous attempts involved single ships that Israel intercepted at sea. Organizers say their goal is to challenge the blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where famine conditions have taken hold under Israel’s months-long closure of all crossings. ‏The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) confirmed on Aug. 22 that famine had taken hold in northern Gaza and warned it could spread as Israel’s blockade continues. The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 64,600 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine. Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.