Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg gestures while talking to media next to a Palestinian flag as a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists prepare to leave for Gaza, in Barcelona. AFP
The vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to "open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people", said the Global Sumud Flotilla.
They did not say how many ships would set sail or the exact time of departure.
The flotilla is expected to arrive at the coastal enclave in mid-September, which has been reeling under Israel's 22-month of genocidal war and a five-month blockade imposed on 2 March.
"This will be the largest solidarity mission in history, with more people and more boats than all previous attempts combined," Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told journalists in Barcelona last week.
Organisers say that dozens of other vessels are expected to leave Tunisian and other Mediterranean ports on September 4.
Activists will also stage simultaneous demonstrations and other protests in 44 countries "in solidarity with the Palestinian people", Thunberg, part of the flotilla's steering committee, wrote on Instagram.
As well as Thunberg, the flotilla will include activists from several countries, European lawmakers and public figures such as former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
"We understand that this is a legal mission under international law," left-wing Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortagua, who will join the mission, told journalists in Lisbon last week.
Previous attempts
The Global Sumud Flotilla describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party. Sumud means "perseverance" in Arabic.
Israel has already blocked two attempts by activists to deliver aid by ship to Gaza, in June and July.
In June, 12 activists on board the sailboat Madleen, from France, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands, were intercepted by Israeli forces 185 kilometres (115 miles) west of Gaza.
Its passengers, who included Thunberg, were detained and eventually expelled.
In July, 21 activists from 10 countries were intercepted as they tried to approach Gaza in another vessel, the Handala.
Both interceptions took place in international waters, outside Palestinian territorial waters off Gaza, in violation of international maritime law, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organises the ships attempting to break Israel’s siege of Gaza by sea.
But the humanitarian situation in Gaza has only worsened in recent weeks.
The United Nations declared a state of famine in the territory this month, warning that 500,000 people face "catastrophic" conditions and has stressed that famine could quickly spread to the wider population of 2.3 million Palestinians.
On Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry said five more people, including two children, died of starvation in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths from hunger and malnutrition to 322 since the war began in October 2023
It added that at least 76 Palestinians were killed and dozens more injured since dawn amid relentless Israeli bombardment and airstrikes across the strip.
Israel’s war on Gaza — widely described as genocide by UN experts, aid agencies and human rights groups, and currently the subject of a case at the International Court of Justice — has killed at least 63,371 Palestinians and injured 159,835, mostly women and children.
Israeli airstrikes have also reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble.
Independent estimates suggest the true death toll is significantly higher.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online.
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