Yasemin Acar, an organiser with the Global Sumud Flotilla, has said the mission’s ships will set sail within hours before joining partner vessels from Tunisia and Greece in international waters.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Barcelona, Acar said that while the boats can carry only limited aid for a population of two million people who are “currently being starved”, the flotilla is not merely symbolic.

“We are really determined to break the siege,” Acar said. “And if they [Israeli authorities] attack us once again, if they intercept us, kidnap us and imprison us, … we will come back even stronger.

“We are sending a message to the Palestinians that we are in solidarity with them, but in action. Our lives are not worth more than their lives,“ Acar was quoted as saying.