Attacks on the vessels docked at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia from projectiles led to no casualties, but have shaken flotilla participants.
Organisers have blamed Israel for the attacks and said the boats were hit by drones.
“We are definitely sailing to Gaza, there is nothing that will prevent us sailing to Gaza whatsoever,” said Tara Reynor O’Grady, a 55-year-old Irish human rights activist. “Don’t be distracted by the strikes, they are made to confuse people, then a lot of panic happens, a lot of false information goes around, but we are determined, we are clear and focused in the way we have to achieve our goal, which is to reach Gaza, break the siege and open a humanitarian sea corridor”.
According to organisers, the plan is for a first wave of vessels – the ones in the best condition – to set sail together to a point in the Mediterranean Sea, where they will rendezvous with other boats departing from ports in Italy and Greece.
Meanwhile, several vessels are still expected to arrive in Tunisia from the first leg, which departed from Barcelona last week. Once repaired and stocked, these ships will form a second wave, departing after the first, meeting up with the rest of the flotilla, and setting course towards the Palestinian shores of the Gaza Strip.
