Solidarity on the high seas: Italian activists join global flotilla for Gaza

Around 150 Italian activists, journalists and several parliamentarians gathered on Thursday ahead of setting sail with the Global Sumud Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip.

The Italian branch is expected to depart Syracuse, to join the main flotilla group, which left Barcelona and is currently in Tunisia, in its attempt to break the blockade and deliver aid to the embattled enclave.

"We, the civilian population, who risk our lives for a sense of humanity, are being labeled as criminals. This is unacceptable, and we ask the government of Giorgia Meloni and the European institutions for full diplomatic protection. Support for the Global Sumud flotilla is needed because it should have been them on these ships, not us," said Benedetta Scuderi, European MP, Green and Left Alliance party.

The boats are loaded with food and medical aid for Gaza's civilian population.

On Wednesday, the main flotilla said it was attacked for a second night in a row when a drone targeted one of its boats that was docked in Tunisian waters.

No one was harmed.