The 43 vessels of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla are around one day from reaching Gaza. As of noon on October 1, the armada was north of Egypt’s Port Said, sailing on a course toward Gaza. This puts them roughly 110 nautical miles from the coast and within a day’s sailing, depending on conditions.
Activists on the Flotilla have indicated they may try to arrive on Yom Kippur, which begins at sunset on October 1. The Flotilla also appeared to believe they would be intercepted overnight between September 30 and October 1. They put live cameras to stream from many of the vessels.
The activists, comprising some 500 people from 40 countries, donned life jackets and other personal flotation devices. They said they were prepared to be boarded and that they would then go peacefully based on previous instructions and training they had received about how to be stopped in open water.
The Flotilla is basing its assessments on how two previous vessels were stopped. In June, the vessel Madleen tried to reach Gaza but was intercepted. The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was on the boat. She has joined this new, larger group of ships as well.
The Flotilla has grown since it left Spain on September 1. It has around 20 boats that left Spain and 20 from Italy, as well as several from Greece. Most of the vessels are sailboats.
As the Flotilla expects to be intercepted by the Israeli navy, let’s compare the Flotilla and the Israeli navy. The Flotilla is composed of some 43 vessels, mostly sailing vessels. Most of these are sailboats around 12-15 meters that will have a crew of around 8-12 people. Most have a speed of 5-15 knots.
There are a few larger vessels, such as the Sirius Segon, a 32-meter historic sailing vessel. There is also the pleasure craft Alma at 33 meters and the converted fishing boat Estrella Y Manuel at 17 meters. These will all have a crew of two dozen or more. The NGO vessel Life Support, which is 52 meters, may be nearby.
However, most of the vessels turned off their AIS systems, which enable global real-time tracking on open-source vessel tracking sites. As such, the Life Support ship, for instance, has data from several hours ago. It is not clear if it is with the group.
The Global Sumud Flotilla website tracks the vessels in real time. It shows them strung out over an area that may be more than 80 square kilometers. There are 39 vessels in the main group, and four lagging behind.
The Israeli Navy has numerous vessels and options to intercept the Flotilla. For instance, the navy has four large modern Saar 6 corvettes, which are 90 meters long, and the Saar 5 corvettes, which are 85 meters long. Israel also has the Saar 4.5 missile boats as well as submarines. Another key component of the Israeli Navy is the patrol boat squadrons.
These include numerous Dvora-type fast patrol boats of 20-27 meters. These have a range of up to 1,500 nautical miles with a crew of around 12. There are also the Shaldag patrol boats. These various Israeli navy vessels will have speeds of some 20-40 knots. The Israeli navy also has two new landing craft, the Nahshon and Komemiyut, which it received in 2023-2024.
Flotilla claims it was approached by Israeli Navy
The Flotilla activists claimed overnight that they were approached by Israeli naval vessels. They showed at least one video of these vessels. The Flotilla currently appears to be making around 5 knots an hour, which means they can easily sail 100 miles over the next day.
Several foreign countries had sent vessels to monitor the Flotilla and even assist in case of something happening. This came after the Flotilla claimed it was attacked off southern Crete on September 23. The Italians sent two naval vessels, and the Spanish sent one. The Italian vessels, Alpino and Fasan, left the Flotilla yesterday after Italy’s Prime Minister urged the Flotilla to stop its advance and transfer aid to Gaza in another manner that reduced tensions.
Spain’s Furor naval ship is also reported to have left. Turkish drones with the call sign Yatoz also seem to have stopped their daily overflights of the Flotilla. It is not clear if they will resume. This means that the international ships that had been brought on over the last week seem to have left the Flotilla.
Flotilla activists say that “all humanitarian ships heading towards the Gaza Strip need the protection of governments.” David Adler, who has said he is one of the few Jewish participants, wrote on social media on October 1 that “I fear this will be the final letter that I write to you from the Global Sumud Flotilla - now just 120 NM from the shores of Gaza. Last night, several Israeli naval ships menaced our convoy. They attacked our vessels, intimidated our crew, and disabled our communications.”