Flotilla leaves Barcelona in biggest attempt yet to break Israeli blockade of Gaza

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A flotilla of ships departed from Barcelona to the Gaza Strip Sunday with humanitarian aid and activists on board in the largest attempt yet to break the long Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea.

This comes as Israel has stepped up its offensive on Gaza City, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies in the north of the Palestinian territory. Food experts warned earlier this month that the city was in famine and that half a million people across the strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is carrying food, water and medicine. Activists on board demanded safe passage to deliver the much-needed aid and the opening of a humanitarian sea corridor, according to a statement. The almost 23-month war has killed more than 63,000 people, with at least 332 Palestinians dying of malnutrition, including 124 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

The maritime convoy of about 20 boats and delegations from 44 countries is claimed to be the largest attempt to date to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip by sea, which has now lasted 18 years. They will be joined by more ships from ports in Italy and Tunisia in the coming days, on the route from the western end of the Mediterranean to the Gaza Strip, organizers said.

Thousands of supporters flocked to the Barcelona pier, some of them wearing kaffiyehs and chanting “Free Palestine!” and “Boycott Israel!” to send off a wide variety of boats, flying Palestinian flags, from rundown old luxury yachts to tiny wooden sailboats and industrial-looking vessels. One of them, the Sirus, is more than 100 years old.

Around 70 boats are expected to take part in the final leg of the journey, flotilla spokesperson Saif Abukeshek told Spanish public television after the departure. The fleet could reach Gaza around Sept. 14 or 15, he added.

“The story here is about Palestine. The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive,” said Swedish activist Greta Thunberg at a news conference. She is one of the most recognizable figures on the expedition, formed by hundreds of activists, politicians such as the former mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and journalists.

Ships carrying tons of humanitarian aid departed from the Italian city of Genoa and will join the expedition in the coming days.

It is not the first time Thunberg has attempted to reach Gaza waters this year. She was deported by Israel in June when the ship she was traveling on with 11 other people, the Madleen, was stopped by the Israeli military.

“It has been very clear that Israel has been continuously violating international law by either attacking, unlawfully intercepting the boats in international waters, and continuously preventing the humanitarian aid from coming in,” said Thunberg in an interview with The Associated Press on Saturday.

The Global Sumud Flotilla will be the fourth attempt to break the maritime blockade so far this year. The Conscience first tried in May, but was attacked by drones after setting sail from Malta. After the Madleen, the Israeli military stopped another aid ship, the Handala, in late July, detained 21 international activists and reporters and seized its cargo, including baby formula, food and medicine, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

In a news conference before the departure in Barcelona, actor Liam Cunningham played a video showing a girl singing while planning her own funeral. The girl, Fatima, died four days ago, he said.

“What sort of world have we slid into where children are making their own funeral arrangements?” Cunningham told reporters.

An Israeli official said Saturday that the country will soon halt or slow humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza, as it expands its military offensive against Hamas, a day after the city was declared a combat zone.

The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when an attack by Hamas militants inside Israel claimed the lives of 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 people hostage.

This story has been corrected to reflect that actor Susan Sarandon was not part of the crew aboard the boats.

Medrano reported from Santiago, Spain.

People hold Palestinian flags as they bid farewell to activists setting sail on their boats to join a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade and delivering humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, August 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People shout slogans as they bid farewell to activists setting sail on their boats to join a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade and delivering humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, August 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg waves from a boat taking part in a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People shout slogans as they bid farewell to activists setting sail on their boats to join a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, with the aim of breaking the Israeli blockade and delivering humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, August 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, center, arrives to board a boat taking part in a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Celia says goodbye to her husband Idris before he sets sail on the boat taking part in a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, center left, waves from a boat taking part in a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Activists wave on a boat taking part in a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Demonstrators shout slogans on a boat ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People crowd the dock ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People crowd the dock ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Demonstrators march ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Demonstrators shout slogans on a boat ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, center, speaks during a news conference ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Munoz)

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg speaks during a news conference ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Hernan Munoz)

Federal immigration agents deployed to Minneapolis have used aggressive crowd-control tactics that have become a dominant concern in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of a woman in her car last week.

They have pointed rifles at demonstrators and deployed chemical irritants early in confrontations. They have broken vehicle windows and pulled occupants from cars. They have scuffled with protesters and shoved them to the ground.

The government says the actions are necessary to protect officers from violent attacks. The encounters in turn have riled up protesters even more, especially as videos of the incidents are shared widely on social media.

What is unfolding in Minneapolis reflects a broader shift in how the federal government is asserting its authority during protests, relying on immigration agents and investigators to perform crowd-management roles traditionally handled by local police who often have more training in public order tactics and de-escalating large crowds.

Experts warn the approach runs counter to de-escalation standards and risks turning volatile demonstrations into deadly encounters.

The confrontations come amid a major immigration enforcement surge ordered by the Trump administration in early December, which sent more than 2,000 officers from across the Department of Homeland Security into the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Many of the officers involved are typically tasked with arrests, deportations and criminal investigations, not managing volatile public demonstrations.

Tensions escalated after the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a 37-year-old woman killed by an immigration agent last week, an incident federal officials have defended as self-defense after they say Good weaponized her vehicle.

The killing has intensified protests and scrutiny of the federal response.

On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota asked a federal judge to intervene, filing a lawsuit on behalf of six residents seeking an emergency injunction to limit how federal agents operate during protests, including restrictions on the use of chemical agents, the pointing of firearms at non-threatening individuals and interference with lawful video recording.

“There’s so much about what’s happening now that is not a traditional approach to immigration apprehensions,” said former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Sarah Saldaña.

Saldaña, who left the post at the beginning of 2017 as President Donald Trump's first term began, said she can't speak to how the agency currently trains its officers. When she was director, she said officers received training on how to interact with people who might be observing an apprehension or filming officers, but agents rarely had to deal with crowds or protests.

“This is different. You would hope that the agency would be responsive given the evolution of what’s happening — brought on, mind you, by the aggressive approach that has been taken coming from the top,” she said.

Ian Adams, an assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, said the majority of crowd-management or protest training in policing happens at the local level — usually at larger police departments that have public order units.

“It’s highly unlikely that your typical ICE agent has a great deal of experience with public order tactics or control,” Adams said.

DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a written statement that ICE officer candidates receive extensive training over eight weeks in courses that include conflict management and de-escalation. She said many of the candidates are military veterans and about 85% have previous law enforcement experience.

“All ICE candidates are subject to months of rigorous training and selection at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where they are trained in everything from de-escalation tactics to firearms to driving training. Homeland Security Investigations candidates receive more than 100 days of specialized training," she said.

Ed Maguire, a criminology professor at Arizona State University, has written extensively about crowd-management and protest- related law enforcement training. He said while he hasn't seen the current training curriculum for ICE officers, he has reviewed recent training materials for federal officers and called it “horrifying.”

Maguire said what he's seeing in Minneapolis feels like a perfect storm for bad consequences.

“You can't even say this doesn't meet best practices. That's too high a bar. These don't seem to meet generally accepted practices,” he said.

“We’re seeing routinely substandard law enforcement practices that would just never be accepted at the local level,” he added. “Then there seems to be just an absence of standard accountability practices.”

Adams noted that police department practices have "evolved to understand that the sort of 1950s and 1960s instinct to meet every protest with force, has blowback effects that actually make the disorder worse.”

He said police departments now try to open communication with organizers, set boundaries and sometimes even show deference within reason. There's an understanding that inside of a crowd, using unnecessary force can have a domino effect that might cause escalation from protesters and from officers.

Despite training for officers responding to civil unrest dramatically shifting over the last four decades, there is no nationwide standard of best practices. For example, some departments bar officers from spraying pepper spray directly into the face of people exercising Constitutional speech. Others bar the use of tear gas or other chemical agents in residential neighborhoods.

Regardless of the specifics, experts recommend that departments have written policies they review regularly.

“Organizations and agencies aren’t always familiar with what their own policies are,” said Humberto Cardounel, senior director of training and technical assistance at the National Policing Institute.

“They go through it once in basic training then expect (officers) to know how to comport themselves two years later, five years later," he said. "We encourage them to understand and know their training, but also to simulate their training.”

Adams said part of the reason local officers are the best option for performing public order tasks is they have a compact with the community.

“I think at the heart of this is the challenge of calling what ICE is doing even policing,” he said.

"Police agencies have a relationship with their community that extends before and after any incidents. Officers know we will be here no matter what happens, and the community knows regardless of what happens today, these officers will be here tomorrow.”

Saldaña noted that both sides have increased their aggression.

“You cannot put yourself in front of an armed officer, you cannot put your hands on them certainly. That is impeding law enforcement actions,” she said.

“At this point, I’m getting concerned on both sides — the aggression from law enforcement and the increasingly aggressive behavior from protesters.”

Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People cover tear gas deployed by federal immigration officers outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A man is pushed to the ground as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)