Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen last week. On Tuesday, Thunberg was deported from Israel.Credit: Freedom Flotilla Coalition / via Reuters

Two major solidarity actions unfolding this week – the Madleen humanitarian flotilla and the upcoming Global March to Gaza – have been met with emotional, varied and at times pointed reactions within Gaza.

While many Palestinians under siege expressed deep appreciation for the international volunteers aboard the flotilla and those preparing to march across the Sinai Peninsula, some also questioned why Palestinians that are geographically closer to the Strip, such as the West Bank and within Israel, have remained largely absent from such high-risk, visible actions.

The Madleen, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departed from Sicily last Sunday carrying life-saving humanitarian aid and dozens of human rights activists, including EU Parliament Member Rima Hassan and Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg. Four activists, including Thunberg, were deported to their home countries on Tuesday after the Israeli navy intercepted the ship overnight in international waters; eight activists remain in Israeli detention as they appeal the expulsion.

At the same time, hundreds of international activists are set to arrive in Egypt on Thursday for what organizers call the Global March for Gaza: an unprecedented civilian-led initiative demanding the end of Israel’s closure of the Rafah border crossing and the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, aboard the Madleen, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy on Sunday.Credit: Salvatore Cavalli/AP

In the besieged Gaza Strip, where hope has become a rare commodity, the sight of a humanitarian flotilla braving the sea and the announcement of an international march headed to the Rafah crossing have sparked emotional reactions. For many Palestinians in Gaza, both efforts represent far more than symbolic gestures; they are seen as acts of moral courage in the face of “political paralysis.”

“They were not set to lift the siege from Gaza,” says Samir, 33, a former high school teacher from Gaza City. “But those on the ship had finished what they had to do; they raised awareness, risked their lives and proved the fragility of the Israeli occupation at a time when countries with armies and power have failed to help us in Gaza.”

To Samir, the planned three-day, 50-kilometer march from the northeastern Egyptian city of Al-Arish to the Rafah border carries deep spiritual and political meaning. He describes it as a “mandatory hajj,” referring to the pilgrimage that Muslims are religiously required to make to Mecca. “Any initiative or even a mention of Gaza gives us hope, let alone a massive march that is seeking to make it to the crossing,” he tells Haaretz.

In another depiction of appreciation, Yazid Abu Jarad, a Palestinian artist from Gaza City, created a piece of art from sand near the port where the flotilla was supposed to dock. Yet not all reactions in Gaza have been positive.

Alongside the gratitude, some voiced frustration, particularly toward Palestinians in the West Bank and inside Israel – who, despite their geographical proximity, “have remained largely absent from such direct acts of solidarity.”

A man comforting a child earlier today as they gather by the body of a paramedic killed yesterday in Gaza City.Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP

“What hurts most is seeing people from the other side of the wall staying silent,” says Samir. “When people from Sweden are sailing to Gaza, and others from South Africa and Tunisia are marching across northern Africa for us – where are the people from Ramallah, Haifa or Nazareth? They’re closer. They speak the language.”

A few have also taken aim at social media activists who espouse pro-Hamas views, urging them to take action like the flotilla and march, rather than “waging jihad from behind screens.”

On X, Izz Eddin Shaheen, a doctor from Gaza, also criticized the lack of solidarity from Palestinian citizens of Israel. “There are no seas between us and Sheikh Raed Salah,” wrote Shaheen, referencing a prominent Palestinian religious leader, the former leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, who lives in Umm al-Fahm. “There’s no need to sail ships to reach Gaza. Between us and them are just streets – and they’re not even willing to walk those to stand by us.”

Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of Israel’s Islamic Movement northern branch, last year.Credit: Fadi Amun

Gazan activist Mustafa Asfour, known for his outspoken opposition to Hamas on social media throughout the war, publicly called out several Palestinians living abroad who have expressed vocal support for the group.

In a strongly worded X post, Asfour named individuals – including Bilal and Baraa Nezar Rayan, the sons of former Hamas leader Nizar Rayan, as well as Turkey-based Al Jazeera analyst Saeed Ziad and other pundits – accusing them of promoting the war from afar while avoiding direct involvement.

“Come on, go ahead. ... Leave your Twitter activism and electronic propaganda behind, and join the Arab masses. The opportunity is in front of you, and the excuse has been rejected, you mercenaries,” Asfour wrote. His remarks reflect growing frustration among some Palestinians in Gaza who feel abandoned by diaspora voices who offer rhetorical support without facing risks on the ground.

Another online critic of Hamas, known by the pseudonym “Abu Karmel,” issued a response to Hudhaifa Azzam – the son of the late Palestinian-Jordanian jihadist and theologian Abdullah Yusuf Azzam – after he criticized the Islamic world for failing to join the Madleen flotilla, questioning the “manhood, chivalry and protectiveness” of Muslim nations.

Displaced Palestinians walking through a makeshift tent camp at Gaza City’s port Monday.Credit: Jehad Alshrafi/AP

In a pointed reply, Abu Karmel turned the scrutiny back on Azzam and others: “And you, Hudhaifa – doesn’t the Madleen make you feel ashamed? You and people like Khaled Safi and Adham Abu Selmiya,” Palestinian writers and activists residing abroad, "who relax on Turkey’s beaches, why don’t you board a ship like the Madleen and try to break the siege on Gaza instead of shouting from afar and accumulating consequences over the blood of innocents?

"Shouldn’t the Madleen shame the Hamas leaders who praise martyrdom in every speech, yet remain far from the front lines? Why don’t they sail to Gaza and earn the martyrdom they so often glorify? Or is martyrdom reserved only for the innocent civilians they’ve dragged into this flood?

“Shouldn’t the Madleen, so proudly celebrated by Muslim Brotherhood leaders and their media outlets, compel them to act – to follow its example and actually attempt to break the siege themselves?”

As the Global March to Gaza gains momentum, activists are rallying for a massive civilian-led push to break the blockade by sea, despite the Madleen’s failure to reach the Strip.

Pulitzer Prize-winning Palestinian writer and poet Mosab Abu Toha, who fled northern Gaza with his wife and three children in 2023 and now resides in the U.S., called for a large-scale mobilization: “A thousand Madleen boats every day. Start today.” In a separate post, he called for an international press vessel to be dispatched to Gaza to bear witness and report firsthand.

Echoing the call, Palestinian director and filmmaker Omar Aziz wrote: “1,000 boats cannot be stopped. Now is the time for the largest civilian aid flotilla in world history to descend on Gaza. Gaza is not some far away distant land, out of sight, out of mind. The siege can be broken with the power of collective organizing. Stop the genocide.”

Nagham Zbeedat