Climate activist Greta Thunberg and "Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham join aid ship sailing to Gaza

Climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists set sail for the Gaza Strip on Sunday afternoon, aboard a ship carrying aid.The mission is aimed at "breaking Israel's siege" of the devastated territory, organizers said. "Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament who is of Palestinian descent, are also among the crew.

Hassan has been barred from entering Israel due to her active opposition to the Israeli assault on Gaza.The sailing boat Madleen — operated by activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition — departed from the Sicilian port of Catania, in southern Italy."'Madleen' sails to Gaza today with twelve humanitarians and as much life-saving aid as she can carry, including baby formula, medical supplies, and more.

She departs from European territorial waters, sailing entirely through international waters into Palestinian waters off Gaza," the coalition wrote in a social media post Sunday."Unarmed and nonviolent, 'Madleen' poses no threat.

She sails in full accordance with international law.Any attack or interference will be a deliberate, unlawful assault on civilians."As the crew tries to reach the shores of Gaza, they hope their trip will raise "international awareness" over the ongoing humanitarian crisis, the activists said at a press conference on Sunday, ahead of departure.

"We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying," Thunberg said, bursting into tears during her speech."Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.

And no matter how dangerous this mission is, it's not even near as dangerous as the silence of the entire world in the face of the live-streamed genocide," she added.Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic "blood libel."In mid-May, Israel slightly eased its blockade of Gaza after nearly three months, allowing...