Politics
French Lawmakers to Join New Gaza-Bound Aid Mission
A Gaza-bound vessel carrying pro-Palestinian activists — including members of France’s hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party — and humanitarian aid set sail from Sicily on Sunday, more than a month after Israel detained and deported passengers from a previous aid ship.
_jpg1400.jpg)
The Handala, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, departed from the port of Syracuse shortly after noon local time, according to an AFP journalist. On board were around 15 activists, while several dozen supporters, some waving Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyehs, gathered onshore chanting “Free Palestine” to see them off.
The former Norwegian trawler is loaded with medical supplies, food, children’s equipment, and other aid. It will spend about a week crossing the Mediterranean — a journey of roughly 1,800 kilometres — in hopes of reaching Gaza’s coast.
_jpg%201400.jpg)
Since early March, Israel has imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza, partially easing restrictions only in late May amid stalled truce talks. The Handala will stop in Gallipoli, southeastern Italy, where two LFI lawmakers are scheduled to join the mission.
This effort comes six weeks after the Madleen set sail from Italy with aid and activists, including Greta Thunberg, before being intercepted by Israeli forces 185 kilometres west of Gaza.
“This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and the summer silence on the genocide,” said Gabrielle Cathala, one of the LFI lawmakers expected to board on July 18. “I hope we will reach Gaza, but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law,” she added.
The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack on Israel that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 49 remain in Gaza — 27 of them confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reports at least 57,882 Palestinian deaths, most of them civilians, from Israeli military action. The UN considers these figures credible.
_jpg%2011.jpg)
