A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is due to depart from Barcelona on Sunday to try to 'break the illegal siege of Gaza', organisers have said.
The Global Sumud Flotilla 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'. They did not specify the number of ships or the exact departure time. The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza 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'. Organisers say dozens more vessels are expected to leave Tunisian and other Mediterranean ports on 4 September.
Thunberg, who is part of the flotilla's steering committee, wrote on Instagram that activists will stage simultaneous demonstrations and protests in 44 countries 'in solidarity with the Palestinian people'. The flotilla will also include former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and European lawmakers.
Left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua, who will join the mission, said: 'We understand that this is a legal mission under international law.' Israel has blocked two previous aid attempts by ship to Gaza, in June and July. In June, 12 activists on the sailboat Madleen were intercepted 185km west of Gaza, and in July, 21 activists from 10 countries were intercepted on the vessel Handala.
