The help flotilla has reportedly already made it nearer to the Strip than the Madleen flotilla that was stopped by Israeli forces final month.
Activists aboard the Handala ship stated on Saturday that they’re approaching the coast of the Gaza Strip and have already handed the purpose the place the Madleenflotilla was stopped final month.
They later claimed an unidentified boat was approaching the ship and that the contributors are “getting ready for a takeover,” Military Radio reported.
The ship set sail from Italy earlier this week. “The world is watching,” the activists stated. The flotilla from final month made headlines, highlighting the presence of pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg.
The Israel Navy is getting ready to intercept the vessel, which, as of Saturday afternoon, is roughly 200 kilometers from Gaza.
“The flotilla is a collective act of conscience,” stated Huwaida Arraf, a human rights lawyer, co-founder of the Worldwide Solidarity Motion, and a member of the steering committee for the “Freedom Flotilla.” The boat is known as after the well-known Palestinian cartoon character “Handala,” described as “a barefoot refugee baby, seeker of justice, who vowed to not flip his again till Palestine is free.”
The character Handala, whom the ship is known as after. (credit score: SECTION 27A COPYRIGHT ACT)
The ship’s earlier voyages
In 2023 and 2024, the Handala ship sailed to ports throughout Europe and the UK, “breaking the media blockade and constructing international solidarity via public occasions, artwork installations, and political training.”
The vessel departed from the port of Gallipoli, Italy, on Sunday as a part of a global protest flotilla whose purpose, in keeping with organizers, is to interrupt the Israeli blockade on Gaza and categorical solidarity with its residents. The journey is predicted to final about ten days.
Earlier than departure, a farewell ceremony was held on the port, attended by tons of of supporters waving Palestinian flags and calling for the ship to be allowed to achieve its vacation spot. In keeping with the organizers, the flotilla goals to lift international consciousness of the extreme humanitarian disaster in Gaza and to ship pressing help.
One of many Handala crew members is Jacob Berger, who’s a 40-year-old actor, viral content material creator, and Jewish-American, anti-Israel activist, and had began going viral on social media in 2017 as a consequence of his sketch comedy movies.
Jerusalem Publish Employees contributed to this report.