Bangladeshi photographer and activist Shahidul Alam, reporting by video from the Gaza-bound vessel Conscience, warned on Sunday that the flotilla faces an unpredictable risk of interception or detention at sea.
The ship – part of the humanitarian convoy known as the Global Sumud Flotilla, which carries journalists and rights defenders from several countries – has repeatedly met Israeli interference en route to Gaza, Shahidul said.
“Out ahead is a ‘danger zone’. It is hard to say when or where we might be stopped or detained,” Shahidul says in the clip.
Writing in English alongside the recording, he described a calm sea and bright sunshine but warned the situation could change without notice. “I slept out on the open deck last night. Normally we would have reached Gaza by today, but slow small boats trying to block our progress have delayed us.”
In a separate photo post on Saturday, Shahidul said Conscience set off from the rear of the flotilla and carries the largest international contingent.
The mission began on 30 September from Otranto in Italy. He noted that several vessels in the Sumud convoy were intercepted earlier by Israeli forces — with one ship initially avoiding capture before later being detained.
Shahidul also reported that eight smaller boats had departed ahead of Conscience, including two vessels from the Floating Freedom Coalition, though their exact status remains unconfirmed.
‘‘Conscience is a fast vessel, it has now linked up with other ships in mid-sea, and the flotilla is proceeding together toward Gaza. Participants describe the joined armada as a symbol of humanitarian solidarity,’’ he said.
“We don’t know how long the calm will last,” Shahidul told viewers in Bengali in the roughly one-minute video.
He added defiantly, “Whatever Israel plans, it cannot stop this mass of people.”
Drawing on history, he argued that those resolved to break the Gaza blockade will persist. “If this convoy is halted, another will come. No dictator has withstood the will of the people. Israel will not either. Palestine will be free.”
