BICOM

A ship carrying female activists will attempt to reach the Gaza Strip today in protest at Israel’s naval blockade.

15 women are thought to be on board the Zaytouna-Oliva, which set sail from Barcelona in September. Passengers include 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire from Northern Ireland and Swedish MEP Malin Bjork.

A spokeswoman, Leigh-Ann Naidoo, told AFP: “Our goal is to reach Gaza. We are not worried about what Israel plans on doing.”

Israeli media says that Israel Navy vessels are preparing to intercept the boat and escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod. Similar plans are apparently in place to deal with a second boat which set sail at the same time as the Zaytouna-Oliva.

Some of the passengers aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva are thought to have been aboard the Marianne, a Swedish vessel which set sail from a Greek port last year attempting to reach Gaza. Israeli commandos peacefully boarded the Marianne after it refused to alter course following repeated requests. It was redirected to Ashdod, before passengers were deported.

Israel has consistently warned protest vessels that naval restrictions over Gaza will be maintained and in 2010, ten Turkish citizens were killed whilst violently trying to prevent Israeli commandos taking over the Gaza-bound protest ship, the Mavi Marmara. A year later, a UN-sanctioned report into the incident, headed by Sir Geoffrey Palmer concluded that Israeli naval restrictions over Gaza are entirely legal.

Israel tightly controls naval traffic around the Gaza coast in order to prevent Hamas from importing arms and materials to boost its military capacity, and has thwarted several such attempts to do so. Hamas claims to have a greater number of missiles than it did during Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to ensure crucial supplies reach Gaza on a daily basis. In 2015, 139,364 trucks entered Gaza from Israel carrying construction materials, medical equipment, and other goods.