Organizers described the effort as a strategic shift toward sustained civilian presence, with early signals shared by official channels and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition in late 2025. The upcoming mission follows a series of Gaza-bound flotilla efforts since 2023, led by networks now merged into the Global Sumud Flotilla. These efforts began with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s Handala awareness voyage, followed in 2024 by a major Istanbul aid mission carrying over 5,500 tons of goods that was blocked after flag withdrawals under reported pressure. In October 2025, Israeli forces forcibly shut down the first official Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining and deporting hundreds of activists, many of whom later reported physical and psychological abuse at the hands of Israeli soldiers. Weeks earlier, an Israeli drone struck one of their vessels off the coast of Tunisia in September, an attack intended to disable the ship and halt its voyage toward Gaza, and was personally ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier that summer, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen vessel on 7 July and seized the Handala vessel later that month.