The International Committee for Breaking the Israeli Siege on the Gaza Strip announced that the ships of the Global Steadfastness Flotilla will gather near Malta to sail together in the Mediterranean Sea toward the shores of Gaza.
The committee said in a statement on Tuesday evening: “The ships of the Global Resilience Fleet, numbering more than 50, set sail in succession starting Sunday evening.”
She noted that the ship sailed from “a number of ports in Tunisia, Italy, Greece, and Libya.”
She continued: “In addition to the Spanish ships, which set sail from the port of Barcelona at the beginning of this month, they then stopped for several days in Tunisian ports for technical and organizational reasons before resuming their sailing from the port of Bizerte in northern Tunisia.”
“The flotilla’s ships are scheduled to meet at a meeting point near Malta and sail together toward the shores of Gaza,” the statement said, without specifying a date.
The committee added: “The ships are carrying relief supplies, medicines, and baby milk, as well as hundreds of solidarity workers from more than 40 countries.”
She stated that “they included a large number of Arab activists and supporters, as well as dozens of public figures, representatives, doctors, and community leaders from North African countries.”
The fleet includes “dozens of participants from Malaysia, Turkey, and countries from all continents of the world,” according to the statement.
The committee added, “This flotilla, with its new scale and diversity, is expected to represent a turning point in the work of solidarity groups working to break the naval blockade of Gaza.”
The committee called for “international protection for the solidarity activists and activists participating in this humanitarian mission, which aims to break the siege on Gaza and deliver aid and livelihoods to those facing genocide and displacement.”
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving 64,964 Palestinians dead and 165,312 injured, most of them children and women, and causing a famine that has claimed the lives of 428 Palestinians, including 146 children.
The committee urged “countries with nationals on board these ships to intervene to facilitate their mission and deliver the aid they are carrying to Gaza.”
She stressed that any attempt to attack ships and activists is considered a “major crime and a violation of international law, which prohibits an occupying state from attacking peaceful and humanitarian vessels on the high seas and in international waters.”
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