It's been almost 14 years after the "Marmara incident," in which the Turkish ship was seized by Israeli commandos after attempting to reach Gaza. That incident led to a clash in which 10 IDF soldiers were injured and nine Turkish activists on board were killed. Now, another flotilla is expected to depart for Gaza on Monday.
The current flotilla, comprised of citizens of 12 countries, like the last one says it plans to assist the residents of the Gaza Strip. Turkey declared that its goal is twofold: to assist the residents of the strip and to break the Israeli blockade on it.
Behind the flotilla stands Fehmi Bulent Yildirim, president of IHH, a Turkish humanitarian NGO, who is expected to set sail with the approval of Turkish authorities. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan encouraged the move, and the head of Turkish intelligence was also involved in arranging the flotilla in an effort to prevent harm to the passengers.
Ahead of the flotilla, Yildirim convened a press conference in which he detailed that the flotilla will include a Libyan ship, a Lebanese ship, and another Turkish ship. The plan is for the ships to dock at the Egyptian port of El-Arish and continue from there to Rafah.
The ships will carry humanitarian aid, equipment, journalists and "peace activists" from Turkey, Canada, South Africa, Spain, the U.S., Malaysia and Sweden. "No one will sit quietly and remain silent about what Israel is doing in Gaza: genocide," said Yildirim. "We must save Gaza and its residents from the cruelty of the terrible war."