Organizers say a new civilian-led aid flotilla with over 100 boats will sail to Gaza in March

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Organizers of an international flotilla of boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza on Thursday announced plans for another mission with more than 100 boats in March.

Campaigners, who organized a similar aid flotilla last year, described the upcoming mission as the biggest civilian-led mobilization against Israel’s actions in Gaza. They called on the international community to prevent Israeli forces from intercepting the operation.

The announcement was made at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa and speakers included Mandla Mandela, grandson of the late former South African president.

The United Nations said that hundreds of thousands of pallets of humanitarian supplies have been offloaded and collected at various crossings into Gaza since a fragile ceasefire was announced in October.

But Israel has suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with new registration rules, and the territory’s population of over 2 million Palestinians still face a humanitarian crisis.

Mandela was part of the flotilla that embarked on a mission to Gaza last year and was detained along with other activists when their boat was intercepted by Israeli forces before they could reach Gaza shores.

According to organizers, more than 1,000 activists including medical doctors, war crimes investigators and engineers will form part of the new flotilla. It will be supported by a land convoy that is expected to attract thousands more activists across countries including Tunisia and Egypt.

The boats are expected to sail from Spain, Tunisia and Italy toward Gaza.

“This time around we expect hundreds and thousands to sign up and to mobilize entry through Egypt, through Lebanon, through Jordan and every other border that is feasible for us to get into occupied Palestine and to Gaza,” Mandela said. “We want to mobilize the entire global community to join forces with us.”

Activists said they were aware that they might be confronted by Israeli forces but that they were protected by international law.

“The International Court of Justice in the provisional ruling in the case opened by South Africa against the genocide state of Israel, states very clearly that Israel or any other nation are prohibited to hinder any type of humanitarian mission on the way to Gaza,” said Thiago Avila, a Brazilian activist who is part of the steering committee.

Mandela said they had chosen to host the briefing at the Nelson Mandela Foundation to highlight Nelson Mandela’s support for the Palestinian cause. They also welcomed the country’s decision to expel Israel’s deputy ambassador to South Africa.

Last year’s mission mobilized about 50 vessels and 500 activists. Organizers said Israeli vessels approached the boats while they sailed in international waters, spraying some with water canons.

An estimated 443 participants were detained, including Mandela, activist Greta Thunberg and European Parliament member Rima Hassan.