2 more boats join fresh Gaza aid flotilla, bringing total to 11

By Ikram Kouachi

ANKARA (AA) – The International Committee to Break the Siege on Gaza announced Saturday that two additional boats have joined the latest wave of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s mission to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, raising the total number of vessels en route to 11, after Israel attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla in international waters.

In a statement, the committee said the two ships, Ghassan Kanafani and al-Awda (Return), are part of the convoy currently carrying some 170 international activists.

The flotilla has passed the Greek island of Crete and is now positioned north of Egypt’s Marsa Matruh on its course toward Gaza, it added.

Among the leading vessels is the "Doctors and Journalists’ Ship," also known as al-Damir (Conscience), a large ship transporting international doctors and reporters from across the world.

“We will not leave Gaza alone,” the committee declared, emphasizing that the ships aim to defy Israel’s siege and deliver humanitarian aid to the territory.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a network of international civil society groups, has organized multiple attempts since 2010 to break the blockade of Gaza and highlight its humanitarian crisis.

Israeli naval forces attacked and seized vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla on Thursday and detained more than 470 activists from over 50 countries. The flotilla had been attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and challenge Israel’s blockade of the enclave.

Israel has maintained the blockade of Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, for almost 18 years.

Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed nearly 66,300 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it uninhabitable, with the blockade also pushing Gaza to famine.