ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan arrived in Tunisia on Sunday to set sail with a global flotilla seeking to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, amid fears of starvation and disease becoming widespread in the Palestinian territory.
The fleet of more than 100 vessels, which will converge in the Mediterranean, brings together four regional alliances: Sumud Nusantara from Asia, Sumud Maghrib from Africa, the Global March to Gaza from the Middle East and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition from Europe. Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon, who are part of the flotilla, left Barcelona on Sunday vowing to try to "break the illegal siege of Gaza."
Khan, affiliated with the Pakistani Jamaat-e-Islami religious party, earlier said he would be part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is deemed as the largest civilian maritime mission ever assembled for Gaza. Training for the voyage will be held in Tunisia from Sept. 1 to 3, after which Khan and others will set sail on Sept. 4. The cargo will consist of food, water and medicine.
"From this very [Tunisian] port and on these very ships, we will break the Gaza blockade," Khan said in a video message he posted on social media platform X on Sunday, carrying a large flag of Pakistan atop a ship.
Khan urged the people to pay their part in supporting the flotilla by highlighting its activities on social media and protesting against Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
The development takes place as Israel intensifies its military offensive in Gaza, limiting the deliveries of food and basic supplies there. The move has earned the ire of several countries around the world, including Pakistan, who have demanded Israel lift the blockade and allow medicines and food to reach the people. Food experts warned in August that Gaza was in famine and that half a million people across the territory were facing catastrophic levels of hunger.
The Sumud flotilla will be the fourth attempt to break Israel's maritime blockade so far this year. In June this year, Thunberg sailed from Sicily with humanitarian supplies on another Freedom Flotilla vessel, the Madleen, which was intercepted and seized by Israeli forces in international waters.
In a statement last week, Khan had said he and other participants of the flotilla were prepared for the risks. He recalled blockades of and attacks on past flotillas, including a deadly 2010 raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara that left 10 activists dead.
Israel's war on Gaza has killed more than 63,000 people, with at least 332 Palestinians dying of malnutrition, including 124 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
