A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including members of France's Unbowed party, and humanitarian aid left Sicily on Sunday, over a month after Israel detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel.
Issued on: 13/07/2025 - RFI
Activists of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, board the Madleen boat, ahead of setting sail for Gaza, departing from the Sicilian port of Catania, Italy, Sunday, June 1, 2025.
© Salvatore Cavalli / AP
The Handala, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left the port of Syracuse shortly after 12:00 pm local time, according to a journalist of the French press agency AFP, carrying about fifteen activists.
Several dozen people, some holding Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves, gathered at the port to cheer the boat's departure with cries of "Free Palestine".
The former Norwegian trawler, loaded with medical supplies, food, children's equipment and medicine, will sail for about a week in the Mediterranean, covering roughly 1,800 kilometres, in the hope of reaching Gaza's coast.
The Handala, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left the port of Syracuse shortly after 12:00 pm local time, according to a journalist of the French press agency AFP, carrying about fifteen activists.
Several dozen people, some holding Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves, gathered at the port to cheer the boat's departure with cries of "Free Palestine".
The former Norwegian trawler, loaded with medical supplies, food, children's equipment and medicine, will sail for about a week in the Mediterranean, covering roughly 1,800 kilometres, in the hope of reaching Gaza's coast.
Palestinians inspect the wreckage of a gas station destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, July 12, 2025. © Abdel Kareem Hana / AP
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
The boat will make a stop at Gallipoli, in southeastern Italy, where two members of the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI,) Gabrielle Cathala and Emma Fourreau, are expected to join.
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid an impasse in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
The boat will make a stop at Gallipoli, in southeastern Italy, where two members of the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI,) Gabrielle Cathala and Emma Fourreau, are expected to join.
French newly-elected Members of Parliament (MP) for the "Nouveau Front Populaire" (New Popular Front - NFP), La France Insoumise's (LFI) Gabrielle Cathala arrives for a welcoming day at the National Assembly following the second round of France's legislative election in Paris on July 9, 2024. AFP - BERTRAND GUAY
The initiative comes six weeks after the departure of the Madleen, another ship that left Italy for Gaza transporting aid and activists, including Greta Thunberg.
Israel authorities intercepted the Madleen about 185 kilometres west of Gaza's coast.
"This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and to break the summer silence on the genocide," said Gabrielle Cathala, one of the two France Unbowed party members set to board the boat on July 18.
"I hope we will reach Gaza but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law" by Israel, she added.
The initiative comes six weeks after the departure of the Madleen, another ship that left Italy for Gaza transporting aid and activists, including Greta Thunberg.
Israel authorities intercepted the Madleen about 185 kilometres west of Gaza's coast.
"This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and to break the summer silence on the genocide," said Gabrielle Cathala, one of the two France Unbowed party members set to board the boat on July 18.
"I hope we will reach Gaza but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law" by Israel, she added.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike as displaced Palestinians flee amid an Israeli ground offensive, in Khan Younis, Gaza, 10 July 2025, as Israel as agreed to an EU-brokered deal to allow more humanitarian aid into the territory.
REUTERS - Hatem Khaled
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry says that at least 57,882 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military reprisals. The UN considers the figures reliable.
(With newswires)
The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that led to 1,219 deaths, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Out of 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 that the Israeli military says are dead.
Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry says that at least 57,882 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's military reprisals. The UN considers the figures reliable.
(With newswires)
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