Palestinian with the Resilience Fleet: 80 miles separate us from Gaza despite Israel's intimidation.

Palestinian activist Mohammed Qatish, participating in the Global Resilience Fleet, said on Wednesday that only 80 nautical miles separate them from the Gaza Strip, affirming their continued sailing despite "Israeli intimidation."

This came in an interview Qatish conducted via phone from aboard the ship Mohammed Bahar, while the fleet announced early Wednesday that it had entered the high-risk area as it approached the shores of Gaza.

Qatish confirmed that the fleet "is less than 80 nautical miles (about 148 kilometers) from the shores of Gaza, and it is moving with all its ships despite waves of intimidation and sabotage attempts by the Zionists (Israel)."

The Palestinian activist, who also holds Dutch nationality, confirmed that "the intimidation attempts began as soon as the fleet set sail from the port of Barcelona (in Spain) and reached its ships to the ports of Tunisia, where the first attack occurred, but morale increased."

Qatish, whose origins trace back to the Yarmouk camp in southern Syria, said: "After that, the fleet continued its way to Italy and then to Greece, where the fleet united and all its ships were completed to head to its final destination, which is Gaza."

Regarding last night (Tuesday/Wednesday), Qatish explained that "there were intimidation attempts through attacks on the fleet, as many Zionist naval vessels were detected heading towards us via radar."

He pointed out "the presence of Zionist ships roaming among the fleet, as well as the intensive presence of drones."

Despite this, Qatish stated that "the fleet's ships continued their way towards the Gaza Strip on a humanitarian mission, carrying an important message to our people there that we will not forget them."

He added: "On our way to Gaza to break the unjust siege on our people there since 2007, to end the famine and genocide being committed by (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu against them, and to open a humanitarian corridor."

On Tuesday, Qatish said in a video clip broadcast on his account on the American Facebook platform: "Now we need your support more than ever, as we have entered the green zone (high-risk area)."

Qatish added: "We need you to talk about us a lot and to exert pressure on governments to open a safe maritime corridor to the besieged Gaza Strip."

Israel, the occupying power in Palestine, has previously engaged in acts of piracy against ships heading to Gaza, seizing them and deporting the activists on board.

This is the first time that more than 50 ships are sailing together towards Gaza, carrying 532 civilian supporters from more than 45 countries.

Israel has besieged the Gaza Strip for 18 years, leaving about 1.5 million Palestinians out of approximately 2.4 million in the area homeless after the genocide war destroyed their homes.

On March 2, the siege was tightened by closing all crossings leading to Gaza, preventing any food, medicine, or humanitarian aid, plunging the area into famine despite relief trucks piling up at its borders.

Sometimes, Israel allows very limited aid to enter that does not meet the minimum needs of the besieged and does not end the famine, especially as most trucks are subject to looting by gangs that the Gaza government claims are protected by Israel.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel, with American support, has been committing genocide in Gaza, resulting in 66,148 dead and 168,716 injured, most of whom are children and women, and famine that has claimed the lives of 455 Palestinians, including 151 children.