A flotilla of dozens of boats headed for Gaza was forced to turn back after being hit with stormy weather.
The leaders of the Global Sumud Flotilla Mission took the decision to abandon the mission because of worsening weather conditions in the Mediterranean after just a few hours.
A statement from the group read: "This meant delaying our departure to avoid risking complications with the smaller boats."
They said the mission was facing "over 30-knot winds" and decided to turn back to "prioritise the safety and wellbeing" of participants.
Pro-Palestinian activists, including climate campaigner Ms Thunberg and Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham, are on the flotilla of several dozen boats.
The group is aiming to break Israel's naval blockade and deliver food and humanitarian supplies to the heavily destroyed enclave.
Israel has argued that the naval blockade it imposed in 2007 is necessary to stop weapons being smuggled to Hamas.
A spokesman from the Israeli Government has described other attempts to break it, including one that included Thunberg in June, as a propaganda stunt in support of Hamas.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was forced to turn back on the first attempt
|REUTERS
Thousands of supporters gathered at Barcelona's port to see off the boats, many of them waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Free Palestine" and "It's not a war, it's a genocide".
"This is a mission to challenge the extremely violent, business-as-usual international system that is failing to uphold international law," Thunberg told the crowd before the departure of the flotilla of dozens of boats, set to be joined by more along the way.
Also in the crowd was Bobby Vylan, vocalist from punk-rap duo Bob Vylan, who came under fire after leading a chant of "death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]" at Glastonbury.
Vylan, real name Pascal Robinson-Foster, called the group "brave individuals" who were "attempting to do what should have been done by government intervention a long time ago".
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Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on board the vessel
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Speaking last night about the flotilla, foreign and defence analyst James Marlow told GB News: "I believe you have a number of these former climate activists, including [Ms Thunberg], who doesn't seem to care so much anymore for the environment.
"But she has got onto the new bandwagon because there's more money in it, it's more lucrative, it's more popular. And of course, they try to do this for a PR stunt.
"They really want to be manhandled by the Israelis. They really want to be grabbed, thrown into a jail and starved for a few days. That's what they're looking to do because then they can get out and tell the media how bad the Israelis are really doing.
"The last time they did this, they were actually offered kosher sandwiches."
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg departs with other activists on the Global Sumud Flotilla
|REUTERS
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg waved to the crowd as she departed
|REUTERS
Organisers of the flotilla blamed global leaders for failing to put pressure on Israel to allow aid to pass after a global hunger monitor said part of Gaza was suffering from famine.
The flotilla will be joined by more boats setting off from Greece, Italy and Tunisia, said Yasemin Acar, a member of the steering committee.
In the northwestern Italian port of Genoa, around 250 metric tons of food for Gaza have been collected from local groups and residents, organisers said.
Some of the aid was loaded on board boats setting off from Genoa on Sunday, while the rest will be sent to the Sicilian port of Catania, from where more vessels are due to leave for Gaza on September 4.
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive are being forced to take shelter in a tent camp in Gaza City
|RETUERS
The blockade has remained in place through conflicts, including the current war, which began when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials, and it has plunged the enclave into a humanitarian crisis and left much of it in ruins.
Yesterday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy reiterated the government's commitment to bring critically injured Gazan children to the UK for specialist NHS treatment.
Some children from Gaza have already been brought privately to the UK for medical treatment through an initiative by Project Pure Hope.
However, Labour has so far not evacuated any through its own scheme during the conflict.