Blockade of the Gaza Strip |
---|
Crossings |
2004 |
Philadelphi Accord |
2006 |
Economic sanctions |
2007 |
Fatah–Hamas battle |
2008 |
2009 |
Viva Palestina "Lifeline 3" |
2010 |
2011 |
2015 |
Freedom Flotilla III |
2016 |
Women's Boat to Gaza |
2023 |
Israeli "total blockade" |
2024 |
2024 Gaza freedom flotilla |
There were 688 participants on the Gaza flotilla from 41 nations. The flotilla was raided and captured by Israeli naval forces on 31 May 2010, when nine participants were killed and seven IDF commandos were injured.
Notable flotilla passengers included Mairead Corrigan, Nobel Peace prize winner, Denis Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary-General, Edward Peck, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım, the İHH president, Haneen Zoabi, an Israeli-Arab member of Knesset, Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Hilarion Capucci, a retired titular archbishop previously convicted by Israel of smuggling arms to the Palestine Liberation Army.
These are the nationalities participated: [1] [2]
Nationality | No. of participants |
---|---|
![]() | 28 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 2 |
![]() | 4 |
![]() | 5 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 2 |
![]() | 2 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 4 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 9 |
![]() | 11 |
![]() | 38 |
![]() | 12 |
![]() | 9 |
![]() | 4 |
![]() | 6 |
![]() | 30 |
![]() | 18 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 18 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 7 |
![]() | 2 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 2 |
![]() | 1 |
![]() | 11 |
![]() | 3 |
![]() | 380 |
![]() | 31 |
![]() | 11 |
![]() | 4 |
Name | Nationality | Age | Known for | Ship |
---|---|---|---|---|
İbrahim Bilgen | Turkey | 61 | Turkish politician and candidate for mayor of Siirt. [3] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Çetin Topçuoğlu | Turkey | 53 | Former National level Turkish taekwondo athlete and national coach. [4] Before departing, he left a letter hinting that he expected to die a martyr, and called on others to aspire to a similar death. [5] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Furkan Doğan | United States | 18 | American of Turkish origin traveling with a US passport, high-school student, living in Turkey. [6] His father says that he only holds American citizenship, contrary to some media reports. | MV Mavi Marmara |
Cengiz Akyüz | Turkey | 41 | from Iskenderun, port city of southern Turkey. [7] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ali Heyder Bengi | Turkey | 39 | a Kurdish man from Diyarbakir, [7] chairman of Aydınlık Yarınlar İçin Hak ve Özgürlükler Eğitim Kültür ve Dayanışma Derneği (AYDER), [8] graduate of Al-Azhar University, owner of a telephone repair shop, married and father of four children. [9] In his funeral in Diyarbakır people shouted "Sehidin Namirin" slogan in Kurdish. His wife said in an interview that he had wanted to reach Palestine for many years, and that he "had an intense desire to die as a shaheed." [5] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Cevdet Kılıçlar | Turkey | 38 | a journalist born in the central Turkish town of Kayseri, Anatolian said. He was also employed by the İHH in Istanbul. [7] In a recorded statement found aboard the Mavi Marmara, Kılıçlar praised militants in Afghanistan and expressed a desire to meet a "happy ending" like the "shaheeds" killed in Afghanistan. [5] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Cengiz Songür | Turkey | 47 | from İzmir. [7] He left a will prior to his departure. [5] [10] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Fahri Yaldız | Turkey | 43 | a firefighter and father of four from the southern town of Adıyaman, Anatolian reported. [7] His brother Habip told the agency that Fahri had long wanted to die fighting in Israel to become a "martyr." Killed by the IDF in the raid. [7] Prior to his departure, he announced that he was going to die as a shaheed. [5] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Necdet Yıldırım | Turkey | 32 | originally from Malatya, worked for the İHH. [7] | MV Mavi Marmara |
![]() |
Name | Nationality | Known for | Ship |
---|---|---|---|
Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım | Turkey | İHH president [11] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Erdinç Tekir | Turkey | An Abkhaz descent Turkish IHH activist and hijacker convicted for the Black Sea hostage crisis. [12] [13] | MV Mavi Marmara [14] |
Uğur Süleyman Sönmez | Turkey | a 46-year-old Turkish citizen from Ankara, neighbor of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. [15] Sönmez was shot in the raid. [16] On 23 May 2014, he died in hospital after being in a coma for four years. [17] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Jerry Campbell | Australia | Australian activist | MV Mavi Marmara [18] |
Kate Geraghty | Australia | The Sydney Morning Herald photographer [19] | Challenger 1 |
Paul McGeough | Australia | The Sydney Morning Herald journalist [19] | Challenger 1 |
Ahmed Talib | Australia | Australian activist | MV Mavi Marmara [18] |
Maryam Talib | Australia | 19-year-old student of Journalism at Griffith University, Australia. | MV Mavi Marmara |
Iara Lee | Brazil | Brazilian filmmaker [20] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Svetoslav Ivanov | Bulgaria | BTV reporter [21] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Naim Elghandour | Egypt/Greece | Exiled Egyptian with Greek passport, was cook on the Eleftheri Mesogeios | Eleftheri Mesogeios [22] |
Annette Groth | Germany | Member of the German Bundestag [23] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Inge Höger | Germany | Member of the German Bundestag [23] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Norman Paech | Germany | Former member of the German Bundestag [23] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Haneen Zoubi | Israel | Israeli-Arab member of Knesset, representing the Balad party. She is the first woman to be elected to the Knesset on an Arab party's list. [24] [25] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Raed Salah | Israel | Leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, previously convicted by Israeli court for raising money for Hamas [26] [27] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Wael Saqqa | Jordan | Head of the Jordanian delegation and the ex-president of the Jordanian Engineers Association [28] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Waleed Al-Tabtabaie | Kuwait | Member of Kuwaiti parliament [29] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Nadeem Ahmed Khan | Pakistan | Human Rights Activist and Chairman Khubaib Foundation [30] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Talat Hussain | Pakistan | Journalist and executive director AAJ TV [31] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Hilarion Capucci | Syria | Retired titular archbishop for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, previously convicted by an Israeli court of using smuggling arms to the Palestine Liberation Army and sentenced to 12 years in prison. [32] [33] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Jamal Elshayyal | Qatar | News producer for Al Jazeera English [34] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Edda Manga | Sweden | Swedish historian [35] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Henning Mankell | Sweden | Swedish author | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Dror Feiler | Sweden | Swedish-Israeli artist | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Mattias Gardell | Sweden | Swedish historian [35] | MV Mavi Marmara [37] |
Mehmet Kaplan | Sweden | Turkish-born member of the Parliament of Sweden | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Viktoria Sand | Sweden | Swedish physician | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Hakan Albayrak | Turkey | Turkish journalist [38] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Sinan Albayrak | Turkey | Turkish actor [39] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Elif Akkuş | Turkey | Turkish television journalist reporting the Flotilla raid for TRT [40] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Mediha Olgun | Turkey | Turkish journalist and author of the book, "Mavi Marmara'da ne oldu" on Gaza Flotilla raid [41] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ya'akov Bolinet Alniak | Turkey | Wrote a book about the raid, joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant army and was killed in American airstrikes on ISIS in September 2014. [42] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Hassan Ghani | United Kingdom | Scottish journalist and documentary maker [43] Press TV reporter [44] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Theresa McDermott | United Kingdom | Scottish activist found in Ramleh prison four days after an attempted Gaza aid mission in 2009 [43] | Challenger 1 |
Ismail Patel | United Kingdom | Friends of Al-Aqsa [45] [46] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Fatimah Mahmadi | United States | Member of the organization Viva Palestina which the IDF claims attempted to smuggle forbidden electronic components into the Gaza Strip. [47] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Huwaida Arraf | United States | Co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement [48] [49] | Challenger 1 |
Joe Meadors | United States | A survivor of the USS Liberty incident [50] | Sfendoni |
Kenneth O'Keefe | United States and United Kingdom | Former U.S. Marine and currently a peace and justice activist. [47] The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) claimed that O'Keefe was linked to terrorist organizations, that he was an extremist who whose goal was to reach Gaza in order to help train and establish Hamas commando units. [51] [52] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Edward Peck | United States | Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Mauritania [53] | Sfendoni |
Ann Wright | United States | Former U.S. Army colonel and former US diplomat. In 2003 she resigned her State Department post to protest the war in Iraq [54] | Challenger 1 |
Scott Hamann | United States | Video producer [55] | Challenger 1 |
Petr Zavadil | Czech Republic | Czech TV reporter [56] | Sfendoni |
Jan Línek | Czech Republic | Czech TV cameraman [56] | Sfendoni |
Mario Damolin | Germany | German journalist and author | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Matthias Jochheim | Germany | German IPPW representative [57] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Nadel El Sakka | Germany | Representative of the Palestinian community in Germany [57] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Aris Chatzistefanou | Greece | Skai 100.3 journalist [58] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Michalis Grigoropoulos | Greece | Greek activist | Eleftheri Mesogeios [59] | |
Katerina Kitidi | Greece | TVXS.gr news website journalist [58] | Sfendoni [60] |
Manolis Matchioulakis | Greece | Solar energy expert from Athens [22] | |
Aris Papadokostopoulos | Greece | Captain of the Eleftheri Mesogeios | Eleftheri Mesogeios [59] |
Vangelis Pissias | Greece | Sixty-three-year-old professor of water engineering at Technical University of Athens | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Maria Psara | Greece | Ethnos (see List of Greek newspapers) journalist [58] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Giorgos Klontzas | Greece | professional diver and pilot [61] | Challenger 2 |
Zaharias Stilianakis | Greece | Captain of the Eleftheri Mesogeios | Eleftheri Mesogeios [59] |
Abbas Nasser | Lebanon | Aljazeera news journalist [62] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Lubna Masarwa | State of Palestine | activist [61] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ewa Jasiewicz | Poland | activist and freelance journalist [61] | Challenger 1 |
Yasser Muhammad Sabag | Syria, Bosnia | According to Serbian news sources, a Syrian intelligence officer serving as the liaison officer between Damascus and Tehran's intelligence networks in the Balkans. In the past, Sabag was in charge of intelligence in the Abu Nidal militant organization. [63] [64] [65] [66] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Srdan Stojiljkovic | Serbia | Serbian Cameraman [67] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Sümeyye Ertekin | Turkey | Turkish journalist [38] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ayşe Sarıoğlu | Turkey | Turkish journalist, joined Flotilla Free Media after the Gaza flotilla raid [68] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Mustafa Özcan | Turkey | Turkish journalist [38] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ümit Sönmez | Turkey | Turkish journalist [38] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Murat Palavar | Turkey | Turkish journalist [38] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ali Ekber Yaratılmış | Turkey | Former Turkish taekwondo athlete and national referee. He was wounded in the raid but not dead contrary to the Israeli sources' claim. [69] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Çigdem Topçuoğlu | Turkey | wife of Çetin Topçuoglu, was also aboard the Mavi Marmara, but survived | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ahmet Varol | Turkey | Journalist and author [70] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ibrahim Sediyani | Turkey | Journalist and author [70] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Rıdvan Kaya | Turkey | Author [70] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ramazan Kayan | Turkey | Author [70] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Abbas Al Lawati | Oman | Dubai-based Gulf News journalist [71] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Bilal Abdul Aziz | Italy | English teacher of Great Britain [22] | |
Alex Harrison | United Kingdom | a 31-year-old British woman [61] | Challenger 1 |
Kevin Ovenden | United Kingdom | Viva Palestina charity [61] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Parveen Yaqub | United Kingdom | 39, from Huddersfield, a council worker [72] | MV Mavi Marmara. |
Denis Healey | United Kingdom | captain of Challenger 1, skippered one of the previous flotillas [61] | Challenger 1 |
Gehad Sukker | United Kingdom | a pizza shop manager from Altrincham in Cheshire [61] | MV Mavi Marmara |
David Schermerhorn | United States | 80, an American film producer [73] [74] | Challenger 1 |
Gene St. Onge | United States | Oakland, CA-based civil/structural engineer, who is working with Palestinian engineers to rebuild housing destroyed in Israel's 2009 invasion of Gaza [75] | Sfendoni |
Paul Larudee | United States | El Cerrito, CA, a piano tuner and FPM co-founder, who also co-founded The Free Gaza Movement, the movement that first broke the siege of Gaza in 2008 [75] | Sfendoni |
Janet Kobren | United States | American Jewish, retired math teacher and co-founder of the California-based Free Palestine Movement [75] [76] | Sfendoni |
Kathy Sheetz | United States | a retired nurse from Richmond, CA, and Woods Hole, MA [74] | Challenger 1 |
Khalid Turaani | United States | who was founder and executive director of the former American Muslims for Jerusalem and now lives in Dubai. [74] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Nicola Enchmarch | New Zealand | Humanitarian Aid Worker [77] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Amin Abu Rashid | Netherlands | He is considered by Israeli intelligence to be the chief Hamas fundraiser in Western Europe, and allegedly had close ties with the senior Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. According to the IHH publications, he lost his hand "in the struggle against the occupation". In interviews, he declared that he was planning to confront the IDF soldiers. [63] [64] [65] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Valentin Vassilev | Bulgaria | BTV cameraman [21] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Shane Dillon | Ireland | Crew [78] | Challenger 1 |
Fintan Lane | Ireland | Irish historian and activist [78] | Challenger 1 |
Fiachra O Luain | Ireland | Activist [78] | Challenger 1 |
Ahmad Umimon | France | Alleged by the IDF to be an operative of Hamas [47] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Marcello Faraggi | Italy | Italian journalist from Brussels | Eleftheri Mesogeios [36] |
Noorazman Mohd Samsuddin | Malaysia | Malaysia's Haluan Palestin chairperson [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Mohd Arba'ai Shawal | Malaysia | Malaysia's Haluan Palestin activist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Syed Muhammad Haleem Syed Hassan | Malaysia | Malaysia's Haluan Palestin activist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Al Hami Husain Suhaimi | Malaysia | Malaysia's Haluan Palestin activist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Mohd Nizam Mohd Awang | Malaysia | Malaysia's Haluan Palestin activist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Hasanuddin Mohd Yunus | Malaysia | Malaysia's Aqsa Syarif president [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Selamat Aliman | Malaysia | Malaysia's Aqsa Syarif treasurer [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Jamuliddin Elias | Malaysia | Yayasan Amal Malaysia deputy president [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Abdul Halim Mohd Redzuan | Malaysia | Muslim Care Malaysia activist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Mustafa Mansur | Malaysia | representative of Malaysia Consultative Council of Islamic Organisation (MAPIM) [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Ashwad Ismail | Malaysia | Malaysia's Astro Awani journalist [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Shamsul Kamal Latif | Malaysia | Malaysia's Astro Awani cameraman [79] | MV Mavi Marmara |
Some people who were on board MV Rachel Corrie are:
Name | Nationality | Known for |
---|---|---|
Mairead Corrigan | United Kingdom | Nobel Peace Prize laureate |
Denis Halliday | Ireland | UN Assistant Secretary-General [80] |
Derek Graham | Ireland | Human rights activist now living in Gaza [81] |
Jenny Graham | Ireland | Human rights activist now living in Gaza [81] |
Mohd Nizar Zakaria | Malaysia | member of Parliament of Malaysia [82] [83] |
Shamsul Akmar Musa Kamal | Malaysia | Perdana Global Peace Organisation member [83] |
Matthias Chang | Malaysia | Perdana Global Peace Organisation member [83] |
Ahmad Faizal Azumu | Malaysia | Perdana Global Peace Organisation member [83] |
Halim Mohamed | Malaysia | Malaysia's TV3 journalist [83] |
Mohd Jufri Judin | Malaysia | Malaysia's TV3 cameraman [83] |
The Black Sea hostage crisis took place January 16–19, 1996 on the Black Sea during the First Chechen War. The Panamanian-registered ferry Avrasaya with 177 passengers and 55 crew members on board was hijacked in a Turkish port of Trabzon by an international armed group, which threatened to kill the more than 100 Russian passengers unless the Russian forces ceased its attack against the Chechen separatists in the Kizlyar-Pervomayskoye hostage crisis.
The Free Gaza Movement (FGM) is a coalition of human rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups formed to break Egypt and Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip and publicise the situation of the Palestinians there. FGM has challenged the Israeli–Egyptian blockade by sailing humanitarian aid ships to Gaza. The group has more than 70 endorsers, including the late Desmond Tutu and Noam Chomsky.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation or İHH is a conservative Turkish GONGO, active in more than 120 countries.
The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel against six civilian ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on 31 May 2010 in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Nine of the flotilla passengers were killed during the raid, with thirty wounded. Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded, one seriously. The exact sequence of events is contested, in part due to the IDF's confiscation of the passengers' photographic evidence. The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, intending to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
MV Mavi Marmara is a Comoros-flagged passenger ship, which was formerly owned and operated by İDO Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc. on the line Sarayburnu, Istanbul-Marmara Island-Avşa Island in the Sea of Marmara. Built at the Golden Gate Shipyard by Turkish Shipbuilding Co. in 1994, the ship has a capacity of 1,080 passengers. It is best known for its participation in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and the deadly confrontation that took place on it during the Gaza flotilla raid.
Reactions to the Gaza flotilla raid on 31 May 2010 ranged from fierce condemnation to strong support for Israel.
İbrahim Bilgen was a Turkish politician, electrical engineer and activist. He was born in Batman, Turkey and killed by the Israel armed forces in the Gaza flotilla raid.
Furkan Doğan was a Turkish American who was residing in Turkey permanently. He was the youngest person killed by the IDF on the MV Mavi Marmara, in the Gaza flotilla raid and became a political symbol after his death.
Many legal assessments of the Gaza flotilla raid were published subsequent to the event. International law experts differed over the legality of the action by Israel. The force necessary to respond to violent resistance and whether the force that was used was proportionate were disputed.
Valley of the Wolves: Palestine is a 2011 Turkish action film directed by Zübeyr Şaşmaz and starring Necati Şaşmaz, Nur Fettahoğlu and Erdal Beşikçioğlu. The story revolves around a Turkish commando team which goes to Israel on a rampage of revenge to track down the Israeli military commander responsible for the Gaza flotilla raid. It is part of the Valley of the Wolves media franchise, based on the Turkish television series of the same name, and a sequel to Valley of the Wolves: Iraq (2006) and Valley of the Wolves: Gladio (2008).
We Con the World is a 2010 video clip that satirizes the purportedly peaceful intentions of the political activists aboard the Turkish-owned flagship, MV Mavi Marmara, which led the Free Gaza flotilla. The video uses the tune and style of the 1985 video "We Are the World", with actors portraying the ship's captain and passengers while waving fake weapons as they sing in criticism of the activists' attempts to "make the world abandon reason" and ignore facts about Hamas as they try to breach the Gaza blockade.
Cevdet Kılıçlar was a Turkish journalist and photographer from Kayseri. He had been a correspondent of the daily newspaper Anadolu'da Vakit. He was an aid worker and responsible for website of The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. He was married to Derya Kılıçlar and had two children, Gülhan and Ali Erdem. He was killed in the Gaza flotilla raid.
The Gaza Freedom Flotilla was a small fleet of ships organized in 2010 by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials with the intention of breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. In typical circumstances, aid is first brought to Israel to be inspected and then transferred to Gaza.
The Turkel Commission was an inquiry set up by Israeli Government to investigate the Gaza flotilla raid, and the Blockade of Gaza. It was led by Israeli retired Supreme Court Judge Jacob Turkel. The other initial members of the commission were former President of the Technion and military expert, Amos Horev, and professor of international law, Shabtai Rosenne, who died in September 2010. The probe was overseen by two International observers: William David Trimble, former Leader of the Northern Irish Ulster Unionist Party and Northern Irish First Minister, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian former military judge Ken Watkin.
Fehmi Bülent Yıldırım is a Turkish lawyer and the current president of Turkish NGO, İHH which provided humanitarian relief in Libya, Pakistan, Russia, China, Kashmir, Darfur, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Somalia, Mauritania, Chile, the Philippines, Aceh, Myanmar, Greece, Crimea, and Haiti.
Erdinç Tekir is a Turkish member of the IHH of Abkhaz origin. He was previously convicted for his participation at the Black Sea hostage crisis. He worked for the IHH since he was released from prison and joined the Gaza Flotilla.
Events in the year 2010 in the Palestinian territories.
"Freedom Flotilla II – Stay Human" was a flotilla that planned to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip by Israel by sailing to Gaza on 5 July 2011. Ultimately, the sailing did not take place.
Media reactions to the Gaza flotilla raid on 31 May 2010 ranged from strong support to strong condemnation of Israel. Criticism included the deaths of civilians, the execution of the raid, increased sympathy toward Israel's opponents or enemies, and increased isolation of Israel.
The 2024 Gaza freedom flotilla was an international humanitarian relief effort organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. It brought aid to the Gaza Strip from Turkey in April 2024, during the Israel–Hamas war and Gaza Strip famine. In mid-April, activists from the United States traveled to Turkey with plans to join the flotilla.
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