Freedom Flotilla ship with pro-Palestinian activists on board leaves Italian port in Sicily
A new Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla ship with pro-Palestinian activists on board has set sail from the southern Italian port of Syracuse in Sicily.
The Handala, operated by the non-violent Freedom Flotilla Coalition, with 15 pro-Palestinian activists on board, departed from the port at around 12:00 pm (1000 GMT) on Sunday.
Handala is carrying humanitarian aid, including food, children’s equipment, medicine, and medical supplies, and is expected to sail the 1,800 kilometers across the Mediterranean Sea to Gaza in about a week.
Several dozen people, some holding Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves, gathered at the port to cheer the boat’s departure with cries of Free Palestine.
The ship is scheduled to make a stop in Gallipoli, in southeastern Italy, on July 18, where two elected officials from La France Insoumise (LFI), Gabrielle Cathala and Emma Fourreau, plan to board the vessel.
"This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and to break the summer silence on the genocide," Cathala said.
"I hope we will reach Gaza, but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law" by the Israeli regime, she added. Several past Flotillas trying to break the Israeli regime's blockade on Gaza have failed.
Another vessel operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was seized by Israeli forces last month. The aid ship Madleen was about 185 kilometers off the coast of Gaza when the 12 pro-Palestinian activists on board the vessel, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, were arrested by the Israeli forces. They were all later deported.
Another aid ship, while preparing to set sail to Gaza on May 2, was struck twice by armed drones, 25 kilometers off the Malta coast. The aid ship Conscience was significantly damaged in the attack, forcing the 30 activists to desperately throw out water to prevent the ship from sinking. Four people were injured.
Since the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war against Gaza on October 7, 2023, launching attacks against Palestinians on an almost daily basis and blocking food, fuel, medicine, and humanitarian aid, at least 57,882 people have been killed, most of them women and children.
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