Gaza flotilla stuck in Tunisia

The supposed aid convoy has not left the country for the last week.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

The latest convoy of boats headed to the Gaza Strip, allegedly filled with humanitarian aid, has been stalled in Tunisian ports for the past week, even as organizers stress the need to get food to Gaza as quickly as possible.

Starting from Spain on Sept. 1, the 20 boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla reached the Sidi Bou Said Port near Tunis six days later, after turning back temporarily to Barcelona because of stormy winds.

At least six of the boats then retraced part of their route, sailing to the northern Tunisian port of Bizerte.

Reports said they did so to avoid strong winds again, although the same conditions affected the entire coastline.

As of Saturday, according to tracking site Vessel Finder, none of them had left the port, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Various media have reported seein between 34 and 50 boats in the flotilla, with some planning to join up on the route to Gaza.

Euro News said 18 boats with aid left Sicily on Saturday to meet fellow participants at sea.

Their exact whereabouts could not be tracked, the Post reported Sunday, because the boats are too small – less than 20 feet long – which also means they cannot be carrying too much cargo.

Organizers have said that several hundred tons of humanitarian aid are stored on the flotilla, aiming to help those allegedly starving in Gaza.

When one boat, the Madleen, tried to approach the Gazan shore to run the Israeli blockade in June, the Israeli navy intercepted it peacefully several miles offshore, and its passengers were deported. Almost no aid was on board, and Jerusalem mocked it as a “selfie yacht” cruise.

Among those sailing was 22-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who streamed images online during the trip.

They were all deported, with Israel promising to deliver the few goods the navy had confiscated.

There are conflicting reports on the number of activists involved in the current effort, ranging from about 600 supposedly already on board to as many as 15,000 planning to arrive.

According to the flotilla’s website, delegations from “45 countries committed to sail to Gaza as part of the largest maritime mission to break Israel’s illegal siege.” But as of Sunday afternoon, not a single boat appeared on the site’s flotilla tracker.

The pro-Palestinian activists claimed last week that Israeli drones dropped incendiary devices on two of their vessels, causing fires.

After the first blaze, the Tunisian Interior Ministry denied it had been caused by an outside source.

Thunberg, who disembarked when the flotilla was forced to return to Spain, arrived in Bizerte on Saturday to rejoin the group.

Online critics have mocked her participation, noting that most of the boats use diesel engines that harm the environment.

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