'Freedom Flotilla' sets sail for Gaza with Greta Thunberg on board

Voyage carrying 'aid and hope' follows drone strike on earlier vessel

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is setting sail on board the flotilla. AP

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Climate activist Greta Thunberg, Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham and a French politician barred from entering Israel are setting sail from Italy on Sunday as part of a “Freedom Flotilla", with the goal of reaching Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies and protest against the war.

The organisation, which has been sending vessels to Gaza for more than a decade, has faced Israeli military retaliation throughout its existence. In April, one of its ships was hit by armed drones, with organisers blaming Israel, although no one has yet claimed the attack.

In 2010, Israeli forces killed 10 Turkish activists belonging to the group on the Mavi Marmara after a naval interception near the coast of Gaza. Ten Israeli troops were wounded in the attack.

The latest vessel is setting sail from Sicily in a “small but mighty yacht” called Madleen, named in 2014 after Gaza’s only fisherwoman, the organisation’s website said. It says the flotilla is "carrying a cargo of hope and humanitarian aid".

Speaking on the deck as the vessel prepared to set sail, Ms Thunberg said the mission was “about the Palestinians who are being systematically starved and ethnically cleansed" by Israel.

“The real news story today is not that we are setting sail towards Gaza. It is the fact that we have to be here,” she added.

Madleen, the sailing ship heading to Gaza, is named after a fisherwoman in the enclave and is departing from Catania, Italy. EPA

“It falls on us to be the adults in the room … we have to keep our promise to the Palestinians to do everything in our power to protest the genocide and to try to open up the humanitarian corridor and break the siege.

“No matter what the odds are against us we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying we lose our humanity. No matter how dangerous this mission is it is nowhere near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world.”

French politician Rima Hassan said on Friday the latest voyage was to “condemn the humanitarian blockade and continuing genocide, the impunity granted to the state of Israel and raise international awareness”.

Smoke and flames rise from a house hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza city on June 1. Reuters TV

Ms Hassan, a member of left-wing party France Unbowed, was due to visit the occupied Palestinian territories in February with a European Parliament delegation, but said she was refused entry to Israel.

Aid has begun trickling back into Gaza in recent days, but humanitarian groups warn the war-ravaged enclave is facing mass starvation. The White House said on Thursday that Israel had "signed off" on a new US ceasefire proposal, but Hamas said it could not accept the deal.