Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar revealed links between Global Somud Flotilla activists and Hamas during a conference on the rise of political terrorism, led by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Thursday.
Sa’ar described the links between radical left-wing political movements in the West and Islamist terrorist organizations, asserting that the alliance between extremists is “a real challenge to the values of democracy and freedom.”
He highlighted the Global Sumud Flotilla as a prime example of how terrorist organizations hide behind leftist activist movements.
The flotilla attempted to breach Israel’s legal naval blockade on the Gaza Strip multiple times under the guise of attempting to deliver humanitarian aid, but, according to Sa’ar, carried no aid materials.
Sa’ar asserted that the flotilla actually aimed to serve the interests of terrorist organizations, mainly Hamas in Gaza.
“Hamas documents seized by the IDF indicate financing, operational involvement, and covert ownership of the vessels through a Spanish shell company,” he told fellow foreign ministers present at the conference.
He added that the organization behind the flotilla’s trips was operated through a network connected to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, “thereby giving legitimacy and civilian cover to terrorist organizations and their goals.”
He accused such organizations of “whitewashing of terrorism and its goals” by using left-wing activists to recruit participants, mobilize student groups, and create public pressure.
Western media outlets, such as the BBC and The New York Times, have fallen for the strategy of using activists to obtain legitimacy for terror-backed movements, Sa’ar said.
Sa'ar highlights Hamas, Hezbollah-linked flotilla activists
Sa’ar specifically highlighted two flotilla activists, Zaher Birawi and Tiago Avila, for their ties to designated terrorist organizations.
According to a 2021 document signed by former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran in 2024, Birawi is a leading Hamas operative who was involved in organizing flotillas for over 15 years and is the head of Hamas’s European wing. The document, Sa’ar stated, was uncovered from Hamas’s terror tunnels underneath Gaza.
Sa’ar also shared a photo of Avila, a Brazilian citizen and leading pro-Palestinian activist, at the funeral of Hezbollah Secretary General and terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah.
“The evidence is clear,” Sa’ar asserted. “We have documented direct links between the flotilla’s organizers and terrorist organizations, including Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Senior Hamas activists are running these campaigns from Britain and other Western capitals.”