An aid flotilla bound for Gaza with Swedish climate campaigner
Greta Thunberg on board set sail from Barcelona on Sunday, organizers said.
At least 20 vessels left the port on the Spanish east coast just after 15:30 CEST (13:30 GMT) carrying humanitarian aid and a number of activists, as a large crowd of supporters cheered them on.
Hundreds of people are aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, which has pledged to "open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people." The maritime convoy is carrying food, water and medicine.
"The question here today is not why we are sailing," Thunberg told reporters. "The story here is about Palestine," she said.
"The story here is how people are being deliberately deprived of the very basic means to survive. The story here is how the world can be silent," she added.
Thunberg attempting to reach Gaza for second time
This is the second time Thunberg is attempting to reach Gaza waters, after being deported in June by Israel when the ship she was traveling on with 11 others was stopped by the Israeli military.
Former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, Irish actor Liam Cunningham and Spain's Eduard Fernandez are also on board the current flotilla as part of delegations of activists from 44 different countries.
Up to 70 boats are expected to be a part of the final journey, with more ships set to join from ports in Italy and Tunisia over the coming days.
The flotilla is expected to arrive at the war-ravaged coastal enclave in mid-September, marking a fourth attempt so far this year to break the maritime blockade that is in place.
Israel imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza after Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by a number of countries, took control of the coastal enclave in 2007.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has said his government will "deploy all of its diplomatic and consular protection to protect our citizens" sailing with the flotilla. It follows Madrid recognizing Palestine as an independent state in May 2024.
Famine officially confirmed in Gaza in August
In August, famine was officially confirmed in Gaza for the first time, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and death, according to a report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
However, Israel rejected the UN-backed report, with an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement saying the food security report was "based on Hamas lies laundered through organizations with vested interests."
US reportedly looking at Gaza takeover
With the United States continuing to push for a ceasefire, the Washington Post newspaper reported that the White House was mulling plans to take control of the Gaza Strip and administer it under a trusteeship for at least 10 years.
The 38-page post-war plan seen by the Post envisioned the "temporary relocation" of all of Gaza's two million residents through "voluntary" departure to a third country or to restricted areas within Gaza.
It would be for the duration of what Washington believes could be a decade-long rebuilding of the decimated Palestinian enclave into a tourist destination and manufacturing hub.