Israeli media reported on Thursday that the Israeli navy is “preparing to confront” ships belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla, which sailed from the Turkish Mediterranean city of Marmaris in a new attempt to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip.
Earlier on Thursday, 54 ships departed from Marmaris in an effort to break the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza since 2006.
Following the announcement of the fleet’s departure, Israeli army radio said on its website that “the Israeli navy is preparing to confront it on the Israeli coast in the coming days”.
The broadcaster claimed that the navy “fears tensions could escalate into violence due to the presence of activists from a humanitarian relief organisation on board the ships”, referring to the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH).
The ships departing from Marmaris include members of the Global Sumud Flotilla’s board of directors, among them Sumeyra Akdeniz Ordu, Dr Imane Al-Makhloufi, Saif Abu Keshk, Ko Tinmaung and Natalia Maria, in addition to a large number of activists from 70 countries.
Mahmut Arslan, head of the Turkish Workers’ Trade Union Confederation, is also taking part on one of the fleet’s ships.
On 29th April, Israeli forces carried out what activists described as an illegal attack in international waters off the Greek island of Crete, targeting vessels belonging to the Global Sumud Flotilla, which included 345 participants from 39 countries, including Turkish nationals.
Israel detained 21 boats carrying around 175 activists, while the remaining vessels continued towards Greek territorial waters.
The surviving ships, or those not detained, later returned to Turkey for maintenance and refitting before the fleet was reorganised on a larger scale and relaunched from Marmaris on Thursday.
