Overview

• The Madleen departed Catania on Sunday with Greta Thunberg, actor Liam Cunningham and MEP Rima Hassan aboard to bring food and medical supplies to Gaza under the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s banner.
• Organizers estimate the voyage will take seven days if Israeli authorities do not intercept the vessel enforcing the maritime blockade.
• This second naval effort follows the Conscience’s early May drone strike off Malta, an attack the coalition attributes to Israel despite its lack of official response.
• The World Health Organization warns that 75 percent of Gaza’s two million residents face emergency food shortages and the prospect of famine due to tightened aid restrictions.
• Israel denies genocide claims and defends the blockade as pressure on Hamas, while the flotilla describes its nonviolent action as a lawful challenge to what it calls an illegal siege.