A flotilla of about 20 boats organized by anti-Israel groups left Tunisia on Monday morning on its way to the Gaza Strip, following repeated delays due to rough waters in the Mediterranean Sea.
The vessels, which initially set sail from Barcelona, disembarked at dawn from the northern Tunisian port of Bizerte, according to AFP.
Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, and Rima Hassan, a French European parliamentarian of Palestinian origin, are among those participating in the flotilla.
“We are preparing for different scenarios,” said Hassan, explaining that the most prominent figures had been split between the two largest coordinating boats “to balance things out and avoid concentrating all the visible personalities on a single vessel,” per AFP.
“When our governments are failing to step up, then we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands,” Thunberg told AFP.
Organizers have claimed that two of their vessels were targeted by drones on consecutive nights last week at Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Said port, where they originally dropped anchor.
Initially, Tunisian authorities disputed the claims, calling them “completely unfounded.” Preliminary findings suggested that the blaze began in the boat’s life jackets.
However, on Sep. 10, the authorities changed their tune, saying that an “assault” on a ship at Sidi Bou Said had been “orchestrated,” according to Reuters.
The flotilla, which also includes boats that set sail in recent days from Corsica, Sicily and Greece, had originally planned to reach the Gaza Strip by mid-September, according to AFP.
Israel blocked another flotilla to Gaza in June. Thunberg, who also participated in that attempt, was returned to her native Sweden and banned from entering Israel, along with 11 other activists, for 100 years.
For her second attempt, Thunberg has been joined by hundreds of other activists in what Reuters described as the largest Gaza flotilla to date.
The flotilla is organized by two main anti-Israel groups: the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza.
The aim of the so-called “Global Sumud Flotilla,” FFC said in a statement, is to “challenge Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza.”
Sumud is a word in Arabic that means “steadfastness” or “steadfast perseverance.”
Qatar, along with 15 other countries, issued a joint statement on Tuesday expressing concern about the safety of the flotilla, calling “on everyone to refrain from any unlawful or violent act against the Flotilla, to respect international law and international humanitarian law.”
“We recall that any violation of international law and human rights of the participants in the Flotilla, including attacks against the vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability,” the statement concluded.
Israel maintains that its naval blockade on Gaza, imposed on Jan. 3, 2009, is compatible with international law. It aims to prevent weapons, terrorists and money from entering or exiting the Gaza Strip by sea. The enclave has been ruled by the terrorist group Hamas since 2007.
A United Nations Panel of Inquiry, as well as a string of world nations, has recognized the legality of the blockade.
