Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and other 11 activists set sail on Sunday afternoon for Gaza on a ship aimed at \u201cbreaking Israel\u2019s siege\u201d of the devastated territory, organizers said. <\/p>\n
The sailing boat Madleen \u2013 operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition \u2014 departed from the Sicilian port of Catania, in southern Italy. <\/p>\n
It will try to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip in an effort to bring in some aid and raise \u201cinternational awareness\u201d over the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the activists said at a press conference on Sunday, ahead of departure. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,\u201d Thunberg said, bursting into tears during her speech. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it\u2019s not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic \u201cblood libel.\u201d <\/p>\n
In mid-May, Israel slightly eased its blockade of Gaza after nearly three months, allowing a limited amount of humanitarian aid into the territory. <\/p>\n
Experts have warned that Gaza is at risk of famine if more aid is not brought in. <\/p>\n
UN agencies and major aid groups say Israeli restrictions, the breakdown of law and order, and widespread looting make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to Gaza\u2019s roughly two million Palestinians. <\/p>\n
Among those joining the crew of the Madleen are \u201cGame of Thrones\u201d actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent. She has been barred from entering Israel due to her active opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza. <\/p>\n
The activists expect to take seven days to get to their destination, if they are not stopped. <\/p>\n
Thunberg, who became an internationally famous climate activist after organizing massive teen protests in her native Sweden, had been due to board a previous Freedom Flotilla ship last month. <\/p>\n
That attempt to reach Gaza by sea, in early May, failed after another of the group\u2019s vessels, the \u201cConscience\u201d, was attacked by two alleged drones while sailing in international waters off the coast of Malta. <\/p>\n
The group blamed Israel for the attack, which damaged the front section of the ship, in the latest confrontation over efforts to send assistance to the Palestinian territory devastated by nearly 19 months of war. <\/p>\n
The Israeli government says the blockade is an attempt to pressure Hamas to release hostages it took during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the conflict. Hamas-led militants assaulted southern Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Hamas is still holding 58 hostages, 23 of whom are believed to be alive. <\/p>\n
In response, Israel launched an offensive that has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza\u2019s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. Israel\u2019s bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of the territory and left most of its population homeless. <\/p>\n
The Flotilla group was only the latest among a growing number of critics to accuse Israel of genocidal acts in its war in Gaza. Israel vehemently denies the allegations, saying its war is directed at Hamas militants, not Gaza\u2019s civilians. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are breaking the siege of Gaza by sea, but that\u2019s part of a broader strategy of mobilizations that will also attempt to break the siege by land,\u201d said activist Thiago Avila. <\/p>\n
Avila cited the upcoming Global March to Gaza \u2013 an international initiative also open to doctors, lawyers and media \u2013 which is set to leave Egypt and reach the Rafah crossing in mid-June to stage a protest there, asking Israel to stop the Gaza offensive and reopen the border. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and other 11 activists set sail on Sunday afternoon for Gaza on a ship aimed at \u201cbreaking Israel\u2019s siege\u201d of the devastated territory, organizers said. The sailing boat Madleen \u2013 operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition \u2014 departed from the Sicilian port of Catania, in southern Italy. It will try <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}