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LAST UPDATE | 7 Jun
AN AID SHIP carrying twelve activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has reached the Egyptian coast and is nearing the besieged Palestinian territory, organisers said today.
The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies “to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza”.
“We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast,” German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. “We are all good,” she added.
Acar said the ship is now near Egypt’s Alexandria coast and expects to reach Gaza by Monday morning.
“We’re about 288 miles away – which means by Sunday evening we will likely be near Gaza’s territorial waters,” she added.
In a statement from London, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza – a member organisation of the flotilla coalition – said the ship has entered Egyptian waters.
The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute “a blatant violation of international humanitarian law”.
French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan, who is on board the vessel, urged governments to “guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla.”
Israel’s aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since 2 March has resulted in the deaths of many children due to starvation.
More than 90% of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are facing acute food shortages, according to aid groups.
The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack. Israel has enforced its blockade with military action in the past.
A 2010 commando raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade, left 10 civilians dead.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route for Gaza, prompting Cyprus and Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of any casualties.
Earlier in its voyage, the Madleen changed course near the Greek island of Crete after receiving a distress signal from a sinking migrant boat.
Activists rescued four Sudanese migrants who had jumped into the sea to avoid being returned to Libya. The four were later transferred to an EU Frontex vessel.
On Wednesday, one of the activists on the boat claimed the vessel was being tightly tracked by Israeli overhead surveillance drones.
Israel had said it was ready to “protect” the country’s maritime space.
Launched in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza that Israel imposed on 2 March and has only partially eased since.
Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the resulting humanitarian crisis in the territory, where the United Nations has warned the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine.
Need more information on what is happening in Israel and Gaza? Check out our new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for essential reads and guides to navigating the news online.
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