Boat of activists seeking to break Gaza blockade nears coast

15 women aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva draw within 70 nautical miles of Palestinian enclave; Israeli navy expected to intercept

A group of activists seeking to break Israel’s decade-long security blockade of the Gaza Strip were less than 70 nautical miles (130 kilometers) from the coast on Wednesday afternoon without having been intercepted, they said. As of 5 pm, they were some 10 hours from the enclave, Israel’s Channel 2 said.

The group of around 15 women, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, was traveling aboard the Zaytouna-Oliva sailboat in the Mediterranean Sea toward the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.

They had expected to be boarded by Israeli authorities at around 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) from the coast of the Gaza Strip, which has been controlled by the Islamist Hamas movement since 2007.

“The Zaytouna-Oliva has passed the fatal line of 100 miles and everything is going well,” Claude Leostic, spokeswoman for the activists, told AFP by telephone.

They saw lights that seemed to be focused on them at around 4 a.m. and assumed it was the Israeli navy, she said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire of North Ireland attends an appeal hearing in a deportation order against her at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on October 04, 2010. Maguire arrived in Israel a few days earlier despite a 10-year deportation order against her due to her participation in a Gaza-bound flotilla in late May of this year. (photo credit: Miriam Alster/FLASh90) — Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israeli media has reported that the authorities plan to intercept the boat and then escort it to the Israeli port of Ashdod as it did with a similar attempt by activists last year.

The IDF refused to comment on reports that an Israeli navy gunboat fired warning shots in the air as the ship approached.

Gazans readied to welcome the boat in the afternoon with music at the enclave’s port if it manages to get through.

Palestinians show their solidarity with a Gaza-bound flotilla of international activists attempting to break the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, on October 5, 2016. at the port in Gaza City. (AFP/ MOHAMMED ABED)

Pictures show several people with balloons, and at least one Norwegian flag, at the port in Gaza City.

The Zaytouna-Oliva set sail from Barcelona in September.

Maguire, a Northern Ireland activist, is among the women of different nationalities on board.

Dubbed “Women’s Boat to Gaza,” the boat is part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition that consists of pro-Palestinian boats that regularly seek to go to Gaza to try to break the blockade.

None has yet managed to get through, and Israeli authorities have made several arrests.

The first flotilla to Gaza, led by the Mavi Marmara ship in 2010, was intercepted by IDF naval commandos. They were attacked as they boarded the Marmara, leading to a melee during which 10 Turkish activists were killed and several Israeli soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously.

While that incident gave Israel a diplomatic black eye and contributed to a deterioration of ties with Turkey, Jerusalem has since apologized as part of major reconciliation deal with Ankara.

Screen capture from Google maps showing the position of the Zaytouna-Oliva as it sails towards the Gaza Strip, October 5, 2016. (Google Maps) — Screen capture from Google maps showing the position of the Zaytouna-Oliva as it sails toward the Gaza Strip, October 5, 2016. (Google Maps)

Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008.

Israel says its maritime, land and sea blockade of Gaza is aimed at preventing Hamas from receiving weapons and supplies which could be used for military purposes. An Islamist terror group, Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, seeks the destruction of Israel, and has fought three wars with the Jewish state since 2008.

UN officials have called for the blockade to be lifted.