Italian Bishops Backed Flotilla Despite Links to Radical Islamists

Pro-Palestinian Fleet Tied to Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and Muslim Brotherhood

Spanish and Palestinian protesters held signs and flags in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla as it passed by Spain's Canary Islands in late August. Numerous reports indicate that the vessels, which were blessed by an Italian archbishop, carried no humanitarian aid.

Spanish and Palestinian protesters held signs and flags in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla as it passed by Spain’s Canary Islands in late August. Numerous reports indicate that the vessels, which were blessed by an Italian archbishop, carried no humanitarian aid.

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Italian bishops offered their unqualified support to the Global Sumud Flotilla of vessels sailing to Gaza, despite reports documenting the fleet’s leaders’ ties to Islamist extremists and the October 7 massacre.

Archbishop Marco Tasca.

Archbishop Marco Tasca.

Romanuspontifex

In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica published September 28, Archbishop Marco Tasca stated that “the brothers and sisters of the Flotilla are peacemakers and must feel supported, not alone or abandoned, as if they were fighting a losing battle.”

“They must know that the Church is close: it loves you, respects you, and appreciates you,” said Tasca, who oversees the archdiocese of Italy’s major port city of Genoa, which is the Flotilla’s “control room.” The ships from Genoa were among the first to sail on September 4.

On August 30, Tasca ordered the boats to be blessed after a prayer vigil in Genoa Cathedral. The archbishop sent Fr. Gianni Grondona, Episcopal Vicar for Synodality, to the Genoa port to bless the vessels attempting to reach Gaza.

The archbishop has the backing of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI) and its president, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who is acting as a mediator to help the flotilla disembark in Gaza in an attempt to break what the fleet’s organizers describe as Israel’s “illegal siege on Gaza.”

It has been sufficiently documented and demonstrated that the Flotilla is being financed by terrorist organizations who unashamedly admit to raping, torturing, and murdering women, children, and men.

Fiamma Nirenstein

“We are committed to providing concrete support to those who are bearing the heavy consequences of this ‘senseless slaughter,’” the CEI said on September 24 after a meeting, noting that it proposed “eloquent gestures of closeness to those who suffer.” Interestingly enough, the vessels involved in the flotilla apparently had no humanitarian aid on board when they were intercepted by the Israeli navy.

Israel’s Dossier Exposes Flotilla’s Extremist Links

The bishops have been criticized for endorsing the flotilla even after reports by the Italian media and the Israeli government’s Ministry of Diaspora and the Fight Against Antisemitism detailed close links between several leaders of the fleet and Islamist outfits.

Israel’s government dossier titled Global Sumud Flotilla: A Humanitarian Cover with
Documented Links to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, found that the flotilla “is operated by an international network with ties to the Hamas terrorist organization, the
Muslim Brotherhood and other extremist groups.”

“Our investigation revealed that at least seven senior officials involved in the flotilla have documented and repeated ties to designated terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas, but also the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and even Hezbollah,” Ziv Hava, co-founder of Israeli data analytics company, Inteleye, told a press conference in Rome.

The 22-page dossier names several flotilla leaders with Islamist links, including Saif Abu Keshk, the coordinator of the convoy. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Keshk is a Hamas operative who owns the ships sailing to Gaza through Cyber Neptune, his shell company in Spain.

Saif Abu Keshk.

Saif Abu Keshk.

Keshk is also a member of the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), designated by Israel as a terrorist organization due to its direct ties to Hamas, Hava said. In June 2025, Egyptian authorities arrested Keshk for organizing the March to Gaza.

Keshk serves as a representative of the Palestinian youth network in Spain, a network under the “Union of Muslim Councils in Europe” that unites Islamic organizations supporting the Muslim Brotherhood across the continent, the dossier noted, citing Egyptian political and military analyst Brigadier General Hatem Atif.

Muslim Brotherhood’s Key Associates in Flotilla

Keshk worked alongside Yahia Sarri, a well-known Islamic cleric in Algeria from the Muslim Brotherhood, who, according to the Israeli dossier, has “direct links to Hamas.” Sarri is a key figure who led the Sumud land convoy from Algeria.

A Facebook post in the dossier links Keshk and Sarri, describing both as the architects of the campaign (an apparent reference to the Sumud convoy). It claims that they share a similar agenda and funding source despite belonging to different Islamic factions.

According to Italian daily Il Giornale, Sarri met with leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood responsible for the October 7 massacre, including Zaher Jabarin, the treasurer, and Osama Hamdan, one of the negotiators likely targeted by Israel in the Doha air strike.

In 2024, Sarri met with Basem Naim, head of Hamas’ International Affairs Department, pledging to promote the March on Gaza and the Gaza Flotilla, the dossier reported.

Quoting Atif, the dossier labeled Sarri one of the leaders of the Association of Muslim Scholars—the historic arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Algeria. Sarri, who espouses a Salafi‑Jihadist ideology, said that “the fatwas of Daesh were correct but their application was wrong,” Atif observed.

Wael Nawar, another member of the flotilla’s Steering Committee, participated “in meetings with representatives of Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Islamic Jihad,” the dossier revealed. A photo shows him with other activists and Youssef Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, in Algiers in June. In February, Nawar attended the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader killed in an Israeli bombing in Beirut.

Bishops Slammed for Backing Terrorists

“The words of Archbishop Tasca are irresponsible,” Italian historian David Elber told Focus on Western Islamism (FWI). “The participation of Italian citizens in this farce, which could turn into a tragedy, is illegal according to Italian law: article 244 of the Penal Code, so his encouragement is tantamount to advocating a crime.”

Elber, author of several books on Israel, including Double Standards, International Law and Israel, elaborated:

From a moral standpoint, it’s even worse: supporting, even just verbally, an organization with close ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood reveals the moral abyss that has struck Italian society across the board. Let’s just hope that the yachts of these false pacifists are stopped without serious consequences. It’s disconcerting to witness a society that has abandoned the most fundamental tenets of ethics and law.

“So why did the flotilla reject every offer that was made to them—including an offer by the Italian government and the Vatican—to transfer any aid they might have peacefully to Gaza? Because it has nothing to do with aid. It’s all about provocation,” Oren Marmorstein, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, posted on X.

In comments to FWI, former Italian parliamentarian and Israeli-Italian author Fiamma Nirenstein stressed that “it has been sufficiently documented and demonstrated that the flotilla is being financed by terrorist organizations who unashamedly admit to raping, torturing, and murdering women, children, and men.”

“Their sole intent is to destroy the state of Israel and the Judeo-Christian civilization which gave birth to our ethics and to democracy. Therefore, I don’t understand why a part of the church would even consider supporting such a despicable movement,” Nirenstein remarked.

“For a senior church figure to ignore these facts and present extremists as ‘peacemakers’ is a grave moral failure,” a spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told FWI. “It is also striking that he speaks of solidarity with Islamists while remaining silent about the Christians being persecuted and murdered across the Islamic world.”

“The Archbishop’s words do not advance peace. They legitimise extremism, embolden antisemites, and betray the values he is supposed to uphold,” the spokesperson added, noting that “this so-called ‘humanitarian’ mission has been exposed as a propaganda stunt.”

FWI contacted Tasca, Zuppi, and the Sumud Flotilla for comment, but did not receive a response.

Jules Gomes is a biblical scholar and journalist based in Rome.