The Helsingin Sanomat Swedish paper reported that Estelle, a Swedish-owned ship sailing under a Finnish flag, is on en route to the besieged Gaza Strip carrying tons of aid supplies to the besieged coastal region.The ship used to be owned by the Estaas Aid Organization in Finland, and was sold to the Swedish “Ship To Gaza” solidarity group last winter.
17 persons, including Swedish and Norwegian nationals, will be trying to reach Gaza to deliver construction materials in addition to humanitarian and medical supplies
The solidarity activists said that they are well aware of the fact that Israel’s Navy will likely attack them and prevent them from reaching Gaza, but said that the main aim of this trip is to raise awareness to the fact that the coastal region is still under Israeli siege.
The ship will likely arrive close to the Gaza shore, an area Israel considers as restricted, by October 20.
As part of its illegal blockade on Gaza, Israel’s naval blockade extends to 20 nautical miles (around 37 kilometers) from the coast of Gaza, but previous Israeli attacks against solidarity ships were carried out as far as 65 kilometers from the shore.
The Estelle ship wanted to sail from Rome to Naples but changed its route due to fears that it might be stopped and prevented from continuing its mission.
Nine Turkish peace activists, including a Turkish-American activist, were killed in May of 2010 when Israel attacked that Mavi Marmara solidarity ship that was sailing to Gaza as part of the Freedom Flotilla.
