The Hanthala ship, loaded with aid, sails to Gaza.

A new Freedom Flotilla ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid set sail from the Sicilian port of Syracuse on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reported, more than a month after Israel intercepted a previous vessel.

The ship "Handala," belonging to this international nonviolent movement in support of the Palestinians, set sail from the port of Syracuse at 12:00 PM (10:00 GMT), carrying approximately 15 activists. The ship will attempt to reach the besieged Gaza Strip, which is facing a catastrophic humanitarian situation after a war that has lasted more than twenty months.

Dozens of people gathered at the port, some carrying Palestinian flags or keffiyehs, chanting "Free Palestine," according to Agence France-Presse.

The ship, which contains medical supplies, food, baby supplies, and medicine, is scheduled to sail for an average of one week to cross the 1,800-kilometer distance to the coast of Gaza.

The voyage, funded by donation campaigns, aims to "show humanitarian and international solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza," Claude Leustek, the Freedom Flotilla's coordinator in France, told AFP on Saturday.

The ship will stop in Gallipoli, southeastern Italy, where two MPs from the France Insoumise (LFI) party, Gabriele Catala and Emma Foro, will join the activists on July 18.

"This is a mission for the children of Gaza, to break the siege, to bring in humanitarian aid, and to break the summer silence about the genocide," said Gabrielle Catala.

She added, "I hope we reach Gaza. If we don't, it will be a new violation of international law, added to the record of the occupying entity."

This initiative comes six weeks after the Madeleine set sail from Italy on June 1, in an attempt to "break the Israeli blockade" on Gaza.

The sailing vessel was carrying 12 activists, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament for the France Insoumise party. Hassan was arrested three days after the ship was intercepted about 185 kilometers west of the Gaza coast.

Israel, which began its retaliatory military operations following a Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, imposed a humanitarian blockade on Gaza in early March, resulting in severe shortages of food, medicine, and other essential goods, which has only been partially eased.