LAST UPDATE | 1 Sep

A FLOTILLA HEADING to Gaza departed Barcelona again on Monday, several hours after winds forced it to return to the Spanish port.

Around 20 vessels left the city yesterday aiming to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people” amid the Israel-Hamas war, said the Global Sumud Flotilla — sumud being the Arabic term for “resilience”.

But “due to unsafe weather conditions”, the flotilla returned to port to allow the storm to pass, the organisation said in an earlier statement.

Facing winds of more than 35 miles per hour, some of the smaller boats taking part in the mission would have been at risk.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, consisting of around 20 boats with participants from 44 countries, includes Greta Thunberg, Dublin actor Liam Cunningham and Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon.

Organisers had said they were especially concerned about the risk the weather posed to the smaller boats.

Spain’s national weather agency AEMET had issued warnings of rainfall and strong storms for the northeastern region of Catalonia which includes Barcelona.

The flotilla is the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory by sea.

It 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 gripped by famine and that half a million people across the strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters had gathered under a scorching sun on the docks of Barcelona’s old port on Sunday to cheer the mission as it took off.

The Israeli military is likely to try and stop the boats from getting near Gaza, as they have done in the past.

The almost 23-month war on Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, with nearly 340 Palestinians dying of malnutrition, including 124 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

With reporting by PA