Cairo, Egypt - An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is nearing , having reached the Egyptian coast, organizers said Saturday.
An aid ship with 12 activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, is nearing Gaza, having reached the Egyptian coast, organizers said Saturday. © IMAGO / Anadolu Agency
The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, with a cargo of relief supplies "to break Israel's blockade on Gaza".
"We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," German human rights activist Yasemin Acar told AFP. "We are all good."
Acar said the ship is now near Egypt's Alexandria coast and expects to reach Gaza by Monday morning.
"We're about 288 miles away – which means by Sunday evening we will likely be near Gaza's territorial waters," she added.
The ship's crew nonetheless reported a series of drone sightings during the voyage.
According to a video posted by the coalition on its social media platforms, a Hellenic Coast Guard Heron drone flew over the Madleen on Tuesday evening.
Hours later, two other drones – believed to be operated by the EU border agency Frontex – approached the vessel.
Another drone visited in the early hours of Thursday.
Activists said the crew remains safe but believes the drone surveillance was intended to intimidate them.
"We are fully aware of the ," Acar said. "If Israel attacks us, it would be yet another war crime."
"We would not be on this mission if we did not believe we could reach Gaza."
