UPDATE - Global Sumud Flotilla 175 nautical miles from Gaza, warns of high-risk entry tonight

UPDATES WITH 1 MORE VESSEL SAILING TO GAZA

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Global Sumud Flotilla that is sailing to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza announced Tuesday that its vessels are now just 175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) from the besieged enclave and will be entering a high-risk zone tonight.

Its organizers issued a critical warning, urging international attention, saying: “Our safety depends on the world watching.”

They stressed that workers and activists worldwide are preparing mass mobilizations in solidarity and demanded safe passage for the flotilla.

“An attack on the flotilla is an attack on Palestine,” the statement declared, calling on global supporters to spread the message, join in collective action, and stand against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The flotilla, carrying humanitarian supplies and international activists, is part of efforts to break Israel’s years-long blockade, which has sharply worsened living conditions in Gaza.

On Tuesday, Israel’s official broadcaster KAN reported that the flotilla had entered Israel’s interception zone, with the Israeli Navy preparing to seize the ships.

Israeli authorities plan to transfer the flotilla activists to a large warship and tow the vessels to the port of Ashdod, with the possibility that some may sink, KAN reported.

Israel has ruled out allowing the flotilla to reach Gaza, according to political directives.

Later, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza said on the US social media company X’s platform that “the ship ‘Al-Dhamir’ (The Conscience), designated for international doctors and journalists, is setting sail towards Gaza from the port of Otranto in Italy.”

The flotilla, loaded mainly with humanitarian aid and medical supplies, set sail at the end of August and beginning of September in a bid to break the Israeli blockade.

This marks the first time in years that dozens of ships have sailed together toward Gaza, which is home to around 2.4 million Palestinians and has been under an Israeli blockade for roughly 18 years.

Israel tightened the siege further on March 2 by closing all border crossings and blocking food, medicine and aid, pushing Gaza into famine despite aid trucks piling up at its borders.

The Israeli army has killed over 66,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.