Activists Announce New, Bigger Aid Flotilla to Set Sail for Gaza in March

Organizers of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that Israel seized at sea last year say they are planning a new, larger mission next month. 
  
The Global Sumud Flotilla announced Thursday that it will sail more than 100 boats carrying up 1,000 activists, including medics and war crimes investigators, to Gaza in March. 
 
Meeting at the foundation of late South African ⁠leader Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, the campaigners described the undertaking as the largest-ever, civilian-led mobilization against Israel’s actions in Gaza. 
   
The flotilla will be supported by a land convoy across nearby Arab countries, expected to attract thousands more backers, said Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela. 
 
Last October, Israel’s military intercepted some 40 boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla as they carried aid to blockaded Gaza, arresting more than 450 participants, including Mandela, Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, and European Parliament member Rima Hassan. Several detainees alleged physical and psychological abuse while in Israeli custody. 
 
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