An international flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and “Game of Thrones” actor Liam Cunningham, has set sail from the southern Italian port of Catania, aiming to reach the Gaza Strip by sea in defiance of Israel’s blockade.
“We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying,” Greta Thunberg said.
CGTN’s Jonathan Regev has the latest from Tel Aviv.
00:01Israel has not said anything, Paul, regarding this new flotilla coming in now.
00:06It would not be surprising if one day we will find out that Israel was behind the drone attack,
00:11and if a similar thing would happen to the current flotilla one.
00:15No one will, of course, acknowledge that, but this is what many people think would happen.
00:21The flotilla, of course, is very high profile due to the fact that there are some celebrities on board,
00:26and mainly we're speaking of Greta Thornburg, the Swedish climate activist who's become now a Gaza activist,
00:34and she's on board this flotilla, among others, and she said and others are saying that this would be perhaps the means to try and break the siege on Gaza.
00:50Thornburg and others, they said that they know that their chances of reaching Gaza are actually slim,
00:55but they want to bring this issue to the headlines, and they hope that if they do make it to Gaza through the sea,
01:02then there will also be some kind of a way to break the siege and go into Gaza by land.
01:09As well, as said, most of the chances that they will actually make it to Gaza are rather slim,
01:14but the issue is in the headlines thanks to this flotilla.
01:18Israel is saying that there's no shortage in humanitarian aid whatsoever since the opening of those distribution centers
01:25by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
01:27Israel and the GHF are saying that there's more than enough humanitarian aid ready for anyone to come and pick it up,
01:35but still this flotilla is headed for Gaza in the hope of breaking the siege,
01:40not so much for the humanitarian aid, but I think for the international attention that comes along with it.
