The currents of the Mediterranean imposed their own law, overcoming military blockades and radar. The Kasr-i-Sadabad, the flagship vessel of the Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian expedition, ended its journey exactly where it was headed. It did so on its own, turned into an unmanned wreck, pushed by the wind and the sea until it ran aground on Al-Mawasi beach in the southern Gaza Strip.
The ship had been blocked by the Israeli Navy on May 19 in international waters, more than a hundred kilometers from Gaza. The 428 activists aboard the flotilla, including Italian MP Dario Carotenuto and journalist Alessandro Mantovani, had been arrested, taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod and then deported. The boat, however, had been left adrift on the high seas. After two weeks, the currents swept it right onto the Palestinian coast.
The beach becomes a mine
Videos posted on social media by Global Sumud activists and Turkish NGO Mavi Marmara show dozens of Palestinian civilians running toward the wreckage. In an area lacking electricity, fuel and basic necessities, the remains of the ship have become a lifeline for displaced families in refugee camps in the area.
Images show residents dismantling the structure to salvage any useful materials. The most valuable loot is the solar panels mounted on the boat’s canopy: two men are filmed dragging an intact photovoltaic module out of the water, which is essential to provide power for the tents. In addition to the panels, the people managed to recover the rudder, pieces of wood, and even some sealed food packets that survived the sea voyage.
The precedent in Egypt and the reactions of activists
The Kasr-i-Sadabad’s arrival in Gaza is not an isolated case. Ten days ago, another Flotilla boat, abandoned by Israeli forces after the crew was seized, had been pushed by currents to a beach in Alexandria, Egypt.
The wreck’s landing in Gaza was officially commented on by the organizations involved in the expedition. “The people who were on board and the aid we collected did not arrive, but their spirit did,” reads the statement released on social channels by Global Sumud Italy. Interviewed by the daily Tomorrow, Gorkem Duru, a member of the Turkish delegation of the flotilla, said, “Although our ships were illegally intercepted by the Zionist entity during the voyage to break the siege on the Strip and deliver humanitarian aid, seeing that some supplies managed to reach the shores of Gaza gives us a glimmer of hope.”
