A FLOTILLA of ships has set sail for the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid on board, while the man-made famine deepens as Israel blocks deliveries of food to the Palestinian territory.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, departing from Spain, will try to break the Israeli blockade and bring humanitarian aid, food, water, and medicine to Gaza.
The maritime convoy, made up of delegations from 44 countries, will be joined by more ships from ports in Italy, Greece, and Tunisia in the coming days, on its route from the western end of the Mediterranean to the Gaza Strip, according to organisers.
They expect around 20 vessels in total once all are together.
Hours before their departure, boats flying Palestinian flags began docking in line at a pier in Barcelona, while hundreds of supporters chanted “Free Palestine” and “Boycott Israel”.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg told a press conference: “The story here is about Palestine. The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive.
“The story here is how the world can be silent and how those in power… are in every possible way betraying and failing Palestinians and all oppressed peoples of the world.”
Thunberg will be one of the most recognisable figures on the expedition, alongside actors Susan Sarandon and Liam Cunningham, as well as activists, politicians, and journalists.
It is not the first time Thunberg has attempted to reach Gaza waters this year. She was deported in June when the ship she was traveling on with 11 other people, the Madleen, was stopped by the Israeli military.
In late July, the Israeli military stopped another aid ship, detained 21 international activists and reporters, and seized its cargo, including baby formula, food, and medicine, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
Earlier this month, the leading authority on food crises said Gaza City was in famine and half a million people across the Strip were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
An Israeli official said on Saturday that the country will soon halt or slow humanitarian aid into parts of northern Gaza, as it expands its military offensive against Hamas, a day after the city was declared a combat zone.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 332 Palestinians have died from malnutrition-related causes during the war, including 124 children.
The conflict began on October 7 2023 when an attack by Hamas militants inside Israel claimed the lives of 1200 people, most of them civilians, and took 251 people hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory military operation in Gaza has so far killed more than 63,000 people and displaced virtually the whole population, according to the territory’s health ministry.
