Women’s Boat To Gaza stands strong despite turbulent seas, broken mast
KUALA LUMPUR: The ‘Women’s Boat to Gaza’ ( WBG) delegation remained strong in completing its humanitarian aid mission to Gaza despite being challenged by turbulent seas and bad weather conditions which had caused the ship’s mast to be broken.
Humanitarian Care Malaysia ( MyCARE) board member Dr Fauziah Mohd Hasan, who is also the official doctor on the ship, said Zaytouna Oliva’s mast was broken yesterday at 4am ( local time).
“However, it was not a big factor for us, and we are excited to see the smiles on the faces of the people of Gaza when we arrived there,” she said in a statement here yesterday.
Dr Fauziah, who is the first Malaysian woman to take part in the mission, said the WBG was heading to Gaza on a mission to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza after the land routes to the strip was blocked by Israel and Egypt.
The Zaytouna Oliva, which boarded 13 delegates, set sail at 8pm on Sept 14 ( Barcelona time) from Port Vell and stopped at Ajaccio (first leg of the journey) on Sept 19 before proceeding to Messina (second leg of the journey).
“WBG is expected to arrive in Gaza on Oct 5. MyCARE has communicated with its manager in Gaza, Ahmad Thabet, on preparations to welcome the arrival of the WBG delegates,” she said.
She said this international mission using the sea route was hope to put pressure on Israel, even though it was not the first attempt to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza. — Bernama