ISTANBUL 

The crew of the Handala ship, a humanitarian aid vessel en route to the Gaza Strip, announced Friday evening that they will go on a hunger strike if the ship is intercepted by Israeli forces.

“This is day six. Yesterday, collectively, the crew announced that if the Israeli military attacks our vessel and prevents us from getting to Gaza, we will go on hunger strike immediately,” said Huwaida Arraf, an American activist and lawyer, in a recorded voice message published in a video on the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s X account.

“We are not interested in receiving any food or water from the occupying genocidal power, and certainly not in the ways that they use it for propaganda, while at the same time they are starving to death Palestinian children,” added Arraf.

She stressed: “So if they in any way attack our vessel and prevent us from getting to Gaza, the entire crew of Handala will be on hunger strike.”

“Our hunger strike will also be in conjunction and in solidarity with the global fast for Gaza that is happening now, and we support the call that emanated from Palestinian journalists in Gaza for people around the world to stand outside embassies and politicians’ offices, banging on pots and pans, making noise, being loud, (and) demanding immediate action to stop Israel's starvation campaign and to open Gaza now,” concluded the American activist.

At dawn on Friday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition announced on Telegram that the ship is continuing its mission and is now less than 349 nautical miles (646 kilometers) from Gaza.

Communications were restored early Friday with Handala after a two-hour interruption during which drones were spotted nearby, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.

“For about two hours, our Freedom Flotilla boat’s communications were interrupted, and drones were observed near the boat, raising serious concerns of a potential attack,” it said.

The group called on supporters to “keep your eyes on the ‘Handala’ and on Palestine and continue pressuring your governments and media to break the illegal siege on Gaza.”

On May 2, the MV Conscience, a ship belonging to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and transporting aid to Gaza, was attacked by drones while in international waters near Malta, causing a fire and structural damage.

On June 9, Israel intercepted another aid ship, the Madlene, in international waters off the coast of Gaza, detaining and later deporting its 12 international activists, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and French Member of European Parliament Rima Hassan, under the condition that they not attempt to return.

Israel has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.