A new humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza is 150 nautical miles (277 kilometres) from its destination, organisers said, as the convoy moves closer to waters where previous missions were attacked by Israeli forces.
"Our flotilla is now within 150 nautical miles of Gaza’s coast, nearing the zone where earlier Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Global Sumud Flotilla missions faced attacks from Israel," the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said in a statement on its official Telegram channel on Tuesday.
About 100 people are aboard the nine-boat convoy, part of the FFC’s "Thousand Madleens" mission to challenge the illegal Israeli siege on Gaza.
The coalition, established in 2008, has organised dozens of missions aimed at delivering humanitarian aid and drawing international attention to Gaza’s worsening crisis under Israel’s 18-year blockade.
The new convoy’s journey follows last week’s Israeli naval attack that intercepted more than 40 boats heading to Gaza as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla.
Israeli forces seized the vessels and detained more than 450 activists on board.
Israel has previously attacked or seized Gaza-bound aid ships, confiscated their cargo and deported participants.
Blockade and humanitarian crisis
Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza, home to nearly 2.4 million people, since 2007.
The siege was further tightened in March when border crossings were closed and food and medical supplies were blocked, deepening widespread Israeli made starvation conditions.
Human rights groups and the United Nations have repeatedly warned that Gaza is becoming uninhabitable amid near-total destruction of infrastructure and a collapse of basic services.
Since October 2023, Israeli bombardments have killed more than 67,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
The flotilla’s organisers say their goal is to "deliver hope, solidarity, and direct aid to the people of Gaza" while peacefully challenging Israel’s blockade on maritime access.
