Aid flotilla destined for Gaza turns back to Barcelona due to bad weather

The Global Sumud aid flotilla destined for Gaza that left Barcelona Port on Sunday afternoon has had to return to shore due to bad weather conditions.

The leaders of the humanitarian expedition decided to divert course due to the forecast of storms and a strong northerly wind at sea.

Global Sumud held a meeting on Monday morning to study the possibility of setting sail again. The leadership are yet to announce a decision.

Among the activists on board the vessels are Greta Thunberg and the former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.

Saif Abukeshek, spokesman for the Global Sumud Flotilla, explained that they returned to Barcelona to ensure the safety of the team and that the first hours spent on the water were used for some members to have “contact with the sea.”

“What happened yesterday helped us to carry out this test, so that people can get used to it and be prepared,” he remarked.

The spokesman said that the weather conditions are now favorable because the wind is in their favor, and he expressed that they are willing to face “any difficulty.”

Dozens of boats set sail for Gaza on Sunday afternoon to try to end the blockade imposed by Israel.

Some 5,000 people turned out at Moll de la Fusta in Barcelona to wish the flotilla well, after two days of activities and debates at the port.

"Barcelona never fails," former mayor Ada Colau said ahead of taking off.

"Israel is very clear in its genocidal intentions; if this doesn't make people get up from their couches, I don't know what will," warned Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

"The politicians should be doing this, we should not be risking our lives, because they are the ones who can demand an end to the genocide," said Edu Lucas of the IAC-Intersindical, part of the Catalan expedition.

"Terrorists" classification

Israel's far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called on the Israeli government to classify the flotilla activists as "terrorists," according to The Jerusalem Post.

Ben-Gvir presented a plan to Benjamin Netanyahu's government on Sunday to arrest activists who want to break the humanitarian blockade on Gaza by declaring that they pose a risk to "national security and its borders."

In this way, they would be imprisoned for some time instead of quickly repatriating them as happened the last time.

The Netanyahu government has not yet commented on the flotilla, according to Israeli diplomatic sources.