/ 2024 ‘For the Children of Gaza’ mission, Coalition statements, Featured, Press releases / By David
FFC statement 23 May 2024.
At 17:00, on Thursday 30 May, members and supporters of the International Committee for Breaking the Siege on Gaza, Health Workers 4 Palestine and the Palestinian Forum in Britain will gather at Old Billingsgate Walk, Riverside, EC3R 6DX and march to welcome the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s boat ‘Handala’ at London Bridge, on the River Thames.
After visiting ports in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Netherlands, ‘Handala’ continues on its way to physically challenge Israel’s illegal maritime blockade of Gaza. Three other Freedom Flotilla Coalition ships are currently in the eastern Mediterranean preparing to sail to Gaza with hundreds of human rights observers and 5,500 tons of humanitarian aid.
“We are outraged that so many governments are failing to protect Palestinian people from Israel’s genocidal actions, including the famine they have imposed on more than two million people, and so we must sail to break the siege,” said Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) Steering Committee member Zaher Birawi.
The FFC is a non-partisan international coalition of campaigns which stand for freedom and human rights. We have sailed since 2010 with the goal of breaking the blockade of Gaza, in solidarity with Palestinians’ cries for freedom and equality. Our non-violent direct action missions support the dignity and humanity of Palestinians, working with civil society partners, rather than any party, faction or government. More background information available at freedomflotilla.org
For media inquiries, please contact one of our media team via: https://freedomflotilla.org/media-contacts/
–End–
Kia Ora Gaza 
…..On April 22 Israel’s Channel 12 television reported Shayetet 13, the Israeli army’s elite special forces unit, had been preparing to intercept the flotilla, citing the Israel Defense Forces.
https://www.voanews.com/a/international-aid-flotilla-searches-for-new-flags-to-sail-from-turkey-to-gaza/7594681.html
It is more than likely that the flotilla ship Handala will be intercepted by Shayetet 13 and redirected to the U.S./Israeli controlled floating pier..
“IDF engineers prepared the beach at Gaza and secured the temporary pier to the beach,… This group of engineers were specially trained for this mission by US army engineers in the preceding weeks on a beach in Israel” US Navy Vice Adm. Bradley Cooper of U.S. Central Command for the Middle East.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2024/05/16/militarys-novel-floating-pier-arrives-in-gaza-amid-security-concerns/
After being fixed to the beach by Israel the U.S. Navy floating pier which has been said to be capable to delivering 200 trucks of aid a day.
In the first two days of its operation only 10 trucks of aid were delivered into Gaza on the U.S./Israeli controlled pier, but no trucks of aid since Sunday have entered Gaza from the pier. Or from any other Israeli controlled crossing.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/no-us-pier-aid-un-gaza-two-days-after-truck-incident-2024-05-20/