New York, New York - An international civilian flotilla will set sail for Gaza in mid-April in an attempt to deliver thousands of tons of aid to Palestinians besieged and starved by Israel.

Organized by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC), the "emergency mission" aims to challenge Israel's blockade of the strip, which it has been assaulted for some six months, bringing desperately needed food and other essentials to a population on the verge of famine.

"Time is critical as experts predict that hunger and disease could claim more lives than have been killed in the bombing," an FCC press release said, blaming both Israel and the international community for the catastrophic humanitarian situation.

"Allowing Israel to control what and how much humanitarian aid can get to Palestinians in Gaza is like letting the fox manage the henhouse," the statement read, adding that US efforts to airdrop food and build a new pier for aid delivery are insufficient and no more than "distractions" from Israel's actions.

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"When governments fail, we sail!" insisted Ismail Moola, a member of the South African organization Palestine Solidarity Alliance.

The FCC says hundreds of international human rights observers are joining it on the journey as it plans to bring 5,500 tons of aid to the territory. Among them are activists from CODEPINK, the feminist anti-war organization that has staged regular protests against US support for Israel's war on Gaza.

"I have been walking the halls of Congress every day since October, going to rallies every weekend, writing letters of outrage to President Biden every night –and nothing has worked to stop Israel from murdering thousands upon thousands of innocent people," co-founder Medea Benjamin wrote in a statement.

"What more can I do? I can go on this flotilla to try to break the criminal siege that Israel has imposed on Gaza."

Brining together organizations spanning five continents, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition was formed in the aftermath of the infamous 2010 raid of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

In May of that year, Israeli forces attacked six ships attempting to break the Gaza blockade and deliver humanitarian aid, killing nine activists.

A tenth later died of his injuries.

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Similar efforts since then have been met with more violence by Israel, which has kept Gaza under a suffocating land, air, and sea blockade since Hamas secured sole power in the strip in 2007.

Alongside devastating bombing campaigns in 2008-9, 2012, 2014, and 2021, successive Israeli regimes have deliberately imposed subsistence-level conditions on Gaza, going as far as to calculate the precise number of calories needed to keep Palestinians just above starvation level.

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, the level has sunk all the way to full-blown famine, according to international bodies, human rights experts, and the millions of people struggling to survive.