International flotilla to head for besieged Gaza

A team of pro-Palestinian activists is preparing to send ships to the war-torn Gaza Strip in an effort to break a seven-year-old blockade on the coastal sliver.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which consists of 10 rights groups from 10 countries, made the announcement following a meeting of its members in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

The coalition did not give out more details about the number of activists due to be sent or the time they would breach the Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza.

“It is the responsibility of civil society to challenge this blockade… We plan to sail to Gaza during 2014,” said Ann Ighe, a Swedish spokeswoman after the meeting.

The move echoes a similar attempt four year ago, which came to a deadly end after Israeli commandos raided the flotilla.

Nine activists, including eight Turkish nationals, were killed in the attack.

Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standards of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

The apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.8 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.

Israeli warplanes have been carrying out incessant airstrikes against the blockaded Gaza Strip since July 8. On July 17, thousands of Israeli soldiers launched a ground invasion into the densely-populated strip.

More than 1,940 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have lost their lives and nearly 10,000 have been wounded despite pressure from the international community on Tel Aviv.

Latest tallies show that nearly 470 Palestinian children have so far lost their lives in the Israeli attacks against the impoverished Gaza Strip. Children also make up almost one-third of the injured.

An Egypt-brokered truce between the two sides came into effect at 2100 GMT on Sunday.