Gaza (archive)
Gaza (archive)Flash 90

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), a group which has been behind previous initiatives to breach Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, has announced yet another flotilla, this one made up of women activists.

The group chose International Women’s Day to announce the launch of their Women’s Boat to Gaza (WBG) project, it said in a statement.

According to the announcement, the Women’s Boat to Gaza will set sail in mid-September of this year, and plans to dock at a number of Mediterranean ports along its route, and arrive Gaza on October 1.

The statement also added that the flotilla will carry notable women from all over the world, in order to highlight “the undeniable contributions which have been made by Palestinian women to the resistance movement”.

The flotilla is endorsed by women’s organizations from all over the world, including the Women’s Affairs Center (Gaza), The Coalition of Women for Peace (Israel), and organizations from Spain, Norway, Mexico, the United States and Canada.

FFC was behind “Freedom Flotilla 3” which sailed last year and included former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki.

There have been several such attempts to break Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, which a UN team has said is completely legal.

The first, and perhaps most famous flotilla was the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla. When the ships taking part refused to stop IDF soldiers boarded, upon which they were assaulted by the "humanitarian" activists wielding knives, iron bars and other lethal weapons.

The soldiers were forced to open fire to save their lives, killing ten of their assailants and sparking an international media backlash.

Despite the supposed "humanitarian" aims of the effort, Israel found the flotilla in fact was not carrying any humanitarian aid, or any other type of supplies for that matter.