‘We see you. We hear you’: The Italian people made us smile in Gaza
Last Monday, I was out in the street trying to catch an internet signal in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip – something that has become almost impossible in Gaza. Our home had just been bombed for the third time during the war, and we had been forced to flee for the 10th time. I had just lost everything once again.
My heart was heavy with grief, and everything around me reminded me of the loss that had befallen us.
When I finally managed to connect, videos, photos and audio messages from Italy flooded my phone. I saw crowds of people marching in the streets, waving Palestinian flags and chanting together for our freedom. I saw squares filled with banners reading, “Stop the War” and “Free Palestine,” and faces showing a mix of anger and hope. They were trying to send us a message: We hear you. We stand with you.
I felt immense joy.
People march during a nationwide Let’s Block Everything strike in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and calling for a halt to arms shipments to Israel in Rome on September 22
High morale on board Gaza-bound flotilla as journey nears critical stage
Al Jazeera’s Younes Ait Yassine, on board one of the vessels in the Global Sumud Flotilla, says the morale is high as the group is less than five days from reaching Gaza.
“This mission has faced many challenges, setbacks, threats and attacks. The biggest one happened four days ago when dozens of drones, believed to be Israeli drones, attacked several of our boats, disabled one and damaged at least three,” he said.
One of the vessels also suffered an engine failure, and the crew were distributed across other vessels, he added.
On Saturday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thousand Madleens to Gaza launched a 10-boat flotilla departing from Catania, southern Italy. It includes 70 people from more than 20 countries.
Two additional boats departed from Turkiye and one from Cyprus, and “they are supposed to rendezvous sometime later in the Mediterranean Sea and head together to Gaza,” said Yassine.
Members of the group of ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza are seen moored at the small island of Koufonisia, south of the island of Crete, on September 26
