Greta Thunberg said she and a Palestinian activist group plan to sail a new flotilla loaded with humanitarian aid to Gaza, in the latest high-profile attempt to break the Israeli blockade on the Strip.
Two other attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July, were blocked by Israel. Troops boarded their vessels and detained the activists before expelling them.
“On August 31st we are launching the biggest attempt ever to break the illegal Israeli siege over Gaza with dozens of boats sailing from Spain,” the Swedish anti-Israel campaigner wrote on Instagram late Sunday.
“We will meet dozens more on September 4th sailing from Tunisia and other ports,” she said.
The group will mobilize activists from 44 countries for the initiative dubbed “Global Sumud Flotilla,” which will also include simultaneous demonstrations. “Sumud,” meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic, is a Palestinian value of defying and resisting Israel.
Humanitarian activists, doctors and artists — including actors Susan Sarandon of the US, Gustaf Skarsgard of Sweden and Liam Cunningham of Ireland — are due to take part.
The exact number of ships sailing to Gaza this time was not specified.
The Global Sumud Flotilla describes itself on its website as an “independent” organization not affiliated with any government or political party.
Thunberg was among 12 activists on board the ship Madleen, which tried to break the blockade in June. The vessel was seized by Israeli forces and the activists were deported.
Weeks later, an additional boat, the Handala, tried to do the same and was also intercepted and seized by Israel in July. The activists on board were also deported.
Past attempts to break the blockade have also failed, most notably the Mavi Marmara incident of 2010, which saw Israeli commandos board a Turkish-led flotilla bound for Gaza. The violence that ensued when those aboard the ship attacked the soldiers resulted in the deaths of 10 activists and left a soldier badly wounded, sparking international condemnation and a severe diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey.
Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007 in a violent coup. Israel says it is necessary to limit Hamas’s ability to smuggle in arms with which to attack the Jewish state. Critics of the blockade say it amounts to collective punishment of Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians.
Over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war against the Hamas terror group that rules the Strip, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The war began with a Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, many of whom are still held in Gaza.