One month after Israeli naval forces intercepted the vessel Madleen, carrying climate activist Greta Thunberg, the “Freedom Flotilla to Gaza” organization announced on Monday that another ship will attempt to breach the blockade on the Palestinian enclave on July 13.
The organization stated that the vessel will depart from the port of Syracuse in Sicily this coming Sunday, carrying “volunteers, doctors, lawyers, social-justice activists and journalists.” The announcement did not include specific information about the identities of the participants.
The ship is named Handala, a reference to the cartoon character of a refugee child that has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause throughout the Arab world.
The upcoming voyage follows two previous flotilla attempts that captured international attention.
The first involved the “celebrity ship” Madleen with Thunberg aboard, while the second featured the vessel Mizfon, which was intercepted in early May after sustaining unclear damage near Malta’s coastline. The activists aboard Mizfon blamed Israel for an aerial assault.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
