News- Middle East: The Global Sumud Flotilla, an international aid fleet bound for Gaza, is moving closer to what organizers describe as a high-risk zone as it attempts to break the “illegal” Israeli siege and deliver lifesaving supplies to Palestinians in need.

“We are now north of Alexandria in international waters, about 550 kilometers away from reaching Gaza,” the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza announced on Monday on the social media platform X.

The committee noted that the flotilla is approaching “the area where events usually escalate in the coming hours.”

Organizers earlier said that around 45 ships taking part in the mission were expected to be three days from Gaza.

Tony La Piccirella, an Italian activist aboard the flotilla, said in a video statement that the ships will reach the same area on Tuesday where Israeli forces previously attacked the Madleen and Handala vessels, both of which had attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea.

Handala was attacked by Israel on July 26 when it was approximately 70 nautical miles from Gaza, and was subsequently escorted to Ashdod Port. The incident marked the second attempt in over a month following the Madleen, which was also attacked by Israeli forces while en route to Gaza. The Madleen was 110 miles away from the besieged strip when it was stopped.

According to the activist, the biggest ship of the flotilla will set sail on Tuesday with 100 people on board.

On Monday, a group of activists joined the Global Sumud Flotilla from the Mediterranean, with two more boats joining from Cyprus and Turkey.

Organizers said that a new wave of eight ships had departed from Italy, adding that a special vessel carrying journalists and doctors will set sail next Wednesday.

La Piccirella stated that, alongside the Italian and Spanish navy vessels protecting the flotilla, three more countries are mulling deploying military vessels, without disclosing their names.

“So, it's getting bigger. And it's not about us, about the Global Sumud Flotilla. It's like a movement with hundreds of people at sea and millions of people on land, and it's not stoppable until the siege is broken,” he said.

The International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza has urged every country, institution, and individual to “do everything they can to establish a maritime corridor that breaks the blockade.”

“The free world must create a momentum the occupation cannot withstand,” it stated.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which comprises about 51 vessels, set sail from Barcelona in late August to break Israel's “illegal” siege of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the strip, organizers said.

The flotilla includes Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg among its participants.

Since March 2, when Israel violated its ceasefire agreement with Hamas, the regime has sealed all border crossings into the enclave, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and further deepening Gaza’s already dire humanitarian crisis.

The brutal blockade has pushed the famine-linked death toll to 428 people, including 146 children. 

Israel has so far killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since it launched the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.   

Source: Press TV