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Juliet Lamont has reason to be apprehensive as she prepares to set sail for Gaza.

The New South Wales filmmaker and Global Sumud flotilla Australian delegation co-head spent six days in an Israeli prison in October after the vessel she was travelling on was intercepted by the Israeli military.

She says she was sexually assaulted, deprived of medication, humiliated and subjected to physical violence while held captive.

Now, six months on, up to 100 boats are preparing to again sail to Gaza in the hope of delivering food, aid, medical supplies and volunteers to the decimated strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel.

Lamont, 55, will be on board again, with the fleet scheduled to leave Barcelona in mid-April before joining other boats en route to Gaza.

“I just wonder if I will be punished for coming back, for daring to return,” she says from a European port whose exact location is being kept secret by organisers.

“It’s a mixture of being completely terrified, but then being so centred in my acknowledgement of the Palestinian suffering that I have to go back.”

Lamont is preparing for potential harsh treatment at the hands of Israeli personnel by weaning herself off the blood pressure medication she was denied when detained in October. At the time, she feared she was at risk of having a stroke.

This time around, there are added dangers.

“Of course, the geopolitical escalation with Iran, Israel and the US means that the flotilla might experience a heightened risk,” she says.

The anti-war protesters were always expecting tough conditions, but the war triggered by Israel and the US bombing Iran has heightened safety risks as preparations for the Gaza mission enter their final days.

Simon Jones, Australia’s delegation co-head, says the latest Middle East conflict has galvanised some participants and shaken others.

“It has certainly impacted the consciousness of a lot of the participants, who are a lot more concerned about their safety than they were previously,” he says from his home in Australia.

“There’s a realisation that things are not getting any better for anybody in Gaza. At the same time, some people feel the risk [of sailing] is too much.”

More than 75,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. Despite the supposed end of the fighting last year, casualties in the territory continue to rise.

Lamont will be one of about 2,000 flotilla members, with a single cargo ship potentially able to carry 1,000 caregivers, teachers and construction workers, each “drilled” in non-violence. About 15 Australians are planning to sail.

“The level of our captains and first mates is amazing. We’re going to have strong boats and a really strong team of non-violent humanitarians,” Lamont says. “It’s a military operation but without the guns.”

But the plan is at the mercy of ever-changing regional geopolitics.

Jones is watching closely as Donald Trump shifts timelines and goalposts, Iran declares its staying power and bombing of Lebanon intensifies.

Alternative end ports to Gaza are being discussed, but for now, ships are still safely plying the waters of the Mediterranean.

“In all that ambiguity and indecision, the best thing for us to do is to maintain the course,” he says.

That means raising funds to cover travel costs and insurance, and preparing for what Jones says is the possibility of a more aggressive Israeli navy.

Lamont will be joined by Australians including Jewish activist Anny Mokotow and Surya McEwen, who was held at Keziot prison with Lamont last year.

The artwork on their yachts’ sails has been designed by Indigenous artist Aretha Brown, while Gomeroi and Ngiyampaa singer Jayden Kitchener-Waters will be on board.

Zack Schofield, a climate activist from Newcastle, has undergone laser eye surgery in preparation for the voyage, having learned as a teenage sailor “that the risk of losing glasses can be catastrophic in high seas”.

All participants have undergone detailed security training ahead of flying to Europe. A common piece of advice is to throw mobile phones overboard rather than surrendering them to Israeli forces.

Lamont has been interviewing potential crew: assessing their sailing skills and how they would cope during an interception. She and other organisers also vet candidates’ backgrounds after infiltrators last year allegedly sabotaged engines, putting one of the flotilla’s largest ships out of action before it left port.

Before they depart, divers will check hulls for explosives, and each vessel will be searched for drugs, guns or contraband that could have been planted.

Lamont will again be travelling with her two daughters, split across three vessels. Isla Lamont, 25, was on board the Alma when it was attacked by drones in the last attempt to reach Palestine.

The trip can be completed in 11 days. In October, Juliet Lamont could see the coastline of Gaza before they were intercepted.

“That was 49 boats. This time, our flotilla is two times that size. They’re going to have a really hard time intercepting that many boats,” she says. “We’ve got an absolute fighter’s chance of reaching the shore.”