A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish eco-activist Greta Thunberg, was preparing to set sail from Barcelona on Sunday, organisers said.
The ships are to depart the Spanish port city to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”, the Sumud Global Flotilla said.
The group defines itself on its website as an independent organisation with no affiliation to a government or political party.
Dozens of boats were due to leave the port at 13: 00 GMT with hundreds of people on board, including activists from dozens of countries.
The flotilla is expected to arrive in Gaza in mid-September.
“The question today is not why we are sailing. The story is not at all about the mission we are about to embark on,” Thunberg said, telling AFP the aim was to deliver aid and open a humanitarian corridor to break the “illegal” and “inhumane” blockade of Gaza.
“The story here is about Palestine. The story here is about how people are being deliberately deprived of the most basic means of survival. The story here is about how the world can be silent,” she told reporters.
This is not Thunberg’s first attempt to reach Gaza waters this year. She was deported in June when the ship she was travelling on with 11 other people was stopped by the Israeli military.
Famine has struck in the Gaza governorate in the strip of the same name, the UN found in a report on 22 August, citing an analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
According to the IPC, more than half a million people in the Gaza strip are in “catastrophic conditions,” including hunger and poverty. A further 1.07 million (54% of the population) were classified as being in a state of emergency (IPC stage 4), with 396,000 in crisis.
Israeli authorities say that one of the main objectives of the military operation in Gaza remains the release of hostages taken by jihadists during the attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. According to the latest figures, 50 hostages remain, including a soldier killed back in 2014. Twenty hostages are believed to be alive. At the same time, US President Donald Trump suggested that less than 20 people could be alive.