Activists of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is seeking to breach the Israeli naval blockade around Gaza, have associated with Hamas members and have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, according to a Tuesday Diaspora Ministry report claiming to show links between the Palestinian terrorist organization and the “resilience” flotilla.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli presented the report on X/Twitter Tuesday, which reveals that the flotilla's leadership has "documented ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood," and most of the evidence detailed the activists as having met representatives of Hamas or other terrorist organizations.
The Sumud Flotilla Steering Committee member with the most alleged links to Hamas is Muhammad Nadir al-Nuri, CEO and founder of Cinta Gaza Malaysia (CGM), who is alleged to have funded initiatives in the territory under Hamas rule.
Direct link to Hamas
According to the Al Resalah satellite television channel, the Malaysian citizen, who has lived in Gaza, coordinated with the Hamas Interior Ministry to fund the Strip's Civil Defense organization with firefighting and ambulance equipment. At the inauguration of a social development office funded by al-Nuri, the activist was photographed alongside Hamas official Ghazi Hamad, according to the Diaspora Ministry.
While not detailed in the report, al-Nuri married the widow of a Gazan fighter in 2016, according to Berita Harian Online, who "martyred in the war against the Zionists."
CGM has also published missives from Hamas, such as the August 2024 notice of the now-deceased Yahya Sinwar's appointment as the organization's political head. Other articles on the CGM website praise Hamas, such as one on the terrorist organization's strategy published on Wednesday.
The Diaspora Affairs Ministry argued in its Tuesday report that flotilla steering committee member Saif Abukeshk had collaborated with Algerian Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yahia Sarri on the failed June convoy to Gaza through Egypt. Sarri in turn had repeatedly met with Hamas senior officials. In January, he had met with Hamas international relations head Bassem Naim in Algeria to discuss his work to break the Israeli naval blockade.
Sarri had attended a March 2024 Iftar event in support of the terrorist organization, which had also been attended by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri. The ministry also presented a photograph of Sarri with Naim, Hamas deputy political leader Zaher Jabrin, and Hamas official Osama Hamdan.
Algerian activist and flotilla steering committee member Marouan Ben Guettaia also met with a Hamas official, according to the ministry, having been photographed with senior Hamas official Youssef Hamdan. In the picture, Wael Nawar, another committee member, appears to be wearing a shawl with a Hamas logo.
Nawar also met with Hamdan at the Hamas headquarters in Algeria in June, according to the ministry and Israel Hayom. In February, Nawar allegedly participated in the funeral of assassinated Hezbollah General-Secretary Hassan Nasrallah, and was photographed with Palestinian Islamic Jihad official Ihsan Attaya.
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, another Steering Committee member, also attended Nasrallah's funeral.
“These individuals are not neutral humanitarian actors. Their affiliations reveal a coordinated ideological and operational front that leverages humanitarian language to advance the goals of designated terrorist organizations," Chikli said in a statement.
The organization Ad Kan (until here) had also noted in June that Avila and steering committee member and climate activist Greta Thunberg had been photographed with alleged Hamas official Zaher Birawi. The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center alleged in 2010 that Birawi was a Hamas activist operating in Europe.
Samidoun Madrid coordinator Jaldia Abubakra is on a vessel as part of the flotilla. Samidoun was proscribed by Israel as a branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in 2021. Germany banned the organization in 2023, and the US and Canada followed suit in 2024. This means that an activist with an organization designated by Israel as a terrorist front group is participating in the flotilla.
One of Samidoun's leaders, Khaled Barakat, who has been described in the past by the PFLP and Palestinian media as a leader of the front, was also blacklisted by the US in 2024 for his terrorist connections. Barakat would later found Masar Badil with Abubakra in 2021. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group, also known as the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, is “a transnational extreme anti-Zionist organization.”