OVER 50 civilian ships were making their way to Gaza today intending to breach Israel’s blockade of the strip and deliver humanitarian aid to the people there.

Fifty-six vessels — including the NGO refugee rescue ship, the Open Arms, and Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise — set sail from the Italian island of Sicily on Sunday.

“The flotilla departs with a clear set of objectives,” organisers Global Sumud Flotilla said on Sunday, “to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade, advance the opening of a permanent humanitarian corridor, and intensify co-ordinated international pressure on governments and corporations complicit in its enforcement.

“As the vessels now move beyond Italian waters, the mission enters a phase in which each mile travelled carries increasing political, legal, and humanitarian weight.

“This journey represents a co-ordinated act of international civil resistance at sea. When institutions fail, people act.”

Supporters can track the Global Sumud Flotilla’s movement to Gaza on the following link: gsumud.link/tracker.

Their previous mission ended last October when the Israeli military seized their ships, kidnapped the activists on board, and held them in Israeli prisons for around a week.