October 5, 2025 | 11:50 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Three volunteers who were part of the Global Sumud Flotilla have returned to Indonesia after failing to break the Israeli blockade in Gaza on Sunday, October 4, 2025. They are activist Wanda Hamidah; Aqsa Working Group (AWG) volunteer, Muhammad Fatur Rohman; and Coordinator of the Indonesian Global Peace Convoy (IGPC), Muhammad Husein.
Activist Wanda Hamidah, who is part of the Indonesian volunteer group, shared the challenges faced during the Global Sumud Flotilla mission. She admitted to being ready to be arrested and imprisoned by Israel in their effort to break the blockade on Gaza.
"Honestly, Fatur and I have volunteered ourselves. We have offered our lives. We hope to break the blockade. We hope to deliver humanitarian aid at all costs, even if we were to be arrested, deported, or detained in an Israeli prison," said Wanda in a press conference on Thursday, October 4, 2025, as reported by Antara.
Wanda shared that she departed with the IGPC group, while Fathur set sail with AWG. They met at the Sidi Bou Said port on the northern coast of Tunisia.
During their journey from Tunisia, Fatur was initially placed on the Observer ship. However, at the last minute, the captain reduced the number of passengers, so Fatur was moved to the Kamr ship, a small sailing boat carrying six people from Indonesia, Mauritania, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Meanwhile, other ships like Kaiser, on which Wanda Hamidah was travelling, Observer, and Nusantara, experienced damage upon arrival in Italy.
Stranded at the port of Sicily, Italy, the Indonesian delegation patiently waited for two weeks. They hoped to board the Global Sumud Flotilla convoy ship that would sail to Gaza to break the Israeli blockade.
However, they had to face the bitter reality that there were no longer any ships sailing to Gaza. Consequently, the Indonesian and delegates from other countries who couldn't continue their journey eventually decided to return to their respective countries.
"Until the day of departure, we were still gathered on the Nusantara ship for various reasons, because there were no more ships. This was the last ship heading to Gaza. There were no more ships heading to Gaza. For different reasons, this ship (Nusantara) was not allowed to sail, perhaps out of concern that we would sail alone," said Wanda.
She recalled the difficulty of finding a ship to Gaza. Wanda also admitted that she had already imagined being in an Israeli prison. Because if caught, they would have to sign a deportation letter or, if they refused, would be detained by the Zionist forces.
"Everything we did was to awaken the people, what we did to raise awareness of Indonesian citizens wherever we are, that we must free Palestine from occupation," said Wanda.
Fatur also expressed his intent to attempt to break the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid again, with better preparation. "We will create waves in the future that are much larger, much stronger, to break the Gaza blockade," he said.
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