A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is due to leave from Barcelona on Sunday to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers have said.
The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”, according to the Global Sumud Flotilla. Organisers did not specify how many ships would sail or the exact departure time.
The flotilla is expected to arrive at the war-ravaged coastal enclave in mid-September. Brazilian activist Thiago Ávila described it as “the largest solidarity mission in history, with more people and more boats than all previous attempts combined”.
Dozens of other vessels are expected to leave Tunisian and other Mediterranean ports on 4 September. Activists will also stage simultaneous demonstrations in 44 countries “in solidarity with the Palestinian people”, Thunberg wrote on Instagram.
As well as Thunberg, the flotilla will include activists from several countries, European lawmakers and public figures such as former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau. Left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua said: “We understand that this is a legal mission under international law.”
Israel has blocked two previous attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July. In June, 12 activists on the sailboat Madleen were intercepted 185km west of Gaza, and passengers including Thunberg were detained and expelled. In July, 21 activists from 10 countries were intercepted near Gaza on another vessel, the Handala.
