VALLETTA, Malta — Peace activists from several countries are setting out on a converted trawler to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“The purpose of this mission is to send a message that civil society is not OK with what’s happening in Gaza,” said Fellipe Lopes, the Portuguese media coordinator of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on board the ship Handala during a stopover in Malta.
It will be a trip fraught with danger. In 2010, the coalition was involved in an infamous attempt to sail a flotilla of ships to Gaza that resulted in a deadly brawl with Israeli troops on the flagship Mavi Marmara. Soldiers who boarded the ship responded after being attacked by activists; nine Turks were killed during the melee and a 10th died of his wounds years later.
Other ships were similarly stopped and boarded, without loss of life.
The brightly colored Handala is carrying activists from Italy, France, Norway, Australia, the Netherlands, Syria and several Palestinians. It has made several port calls around Scandinavia and the Mediterranean to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza.
Its hull carries slogans reading: “Free Palestine,” “Gaza you are not alone” and “Stop the Genocide,” while its humanitarian aid cargo consists mostly of medicines.
“We expect to encounter resistance throughout our mission,” Australian activist Michael Coleman said.
“Ours is not an illegal activity in any shape or form. The International Court of Justice has asked them to grant unfettered access to aid into Gaza, and I implore them to let us and other aids through immediately,” he said.
The Handala was visited in Malta by 78-year-old retired US Army Colonel and diplomat Ann Wright, who was aboard the Challenger 1 ship during the 2010 mission. Her vessel was also taken over by Israeli forces, but no passengers were killed.
“These people are very brave because we don’t know what’s going to happen. If the Israelis stop them, we know it’ll be brutal,” Wright said.
The trip along the Eastern Mediterranean to Gaza will take a week but organizers said they might stop at another harbor on the way.
Israel severely curtailed access to Gaza following the October 7 Hamas massacre, but has made efforts to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza following intense international pressure and warnings of famine and disease rampant in the enclave.
Goods entering Gaza are subject to inspection to keep the Hamas terror group from smuggling in arms.
War broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251. It is believed that 111 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of 39 confirmed dead by the IDF.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 40,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 17,000 combatants in battle as of August, and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 332.