The FINANCIAL — A humanitarian aid convoy carrying some of the activists on board the Freedom Flotilla, attacked by Israeli troops in May, will set sail for Gaza on October 18 from the Syrian port of Latakia, Syria's Al Watan newspaper said, according to RIA Novosti.
The Israeli military stormed the Freedom Flotilla ships in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea in late May as they tried to take 10,000 tons of aid to the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade for the past three years. The raid claimed the lives of at least nine activists, including eight Turkish nationals.
The new aid convoy, dubbed Lifeline 5, is to be joined by convoys from Morocco, Algeria, Jordan and Persian Gulf nations before arriving to Al-Arish, an Egyptian port city on the border with Gaza.
The main ship in the convoy will carry 380 activists from 42 countries, 147 vehicles and $5 million in medical aid.
Its departure was delayed after Egyptian authorities declared persona non-grata its organizer, former British MP George Galloway. Another 16 activists have also been banned from entering the country.
Galloway was banned from entering Egypt after a series of rallies were organized by the Gaza Freedom movement in March, despite Egypt's non-toleration of public protests.
Discussion about this post