An aid ship with 12 activists on board has reached the Egyptian coast and is nearing the besieged Palestinian territory, organisers said.
In a statement from London on Saturday, the International Committee for Breaking the Siege of Gaza, a member organisation of the flotilla coalition, said the ship had entered Egyptian waters.
The group said it remains in contact with international legal and human rights bodies to ensure the safety of those on board, warning that any interception would constitute "a blatant violation of international humanitarian law".
A European parliament member on board the vessel urged governments to "guarantee safe passage for the Freedom Flotilla."
"We are now sailing off the Egyptian coast," an activist told AFP. "We are all good," she added.
The Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left Sicily last week with a cargo of relief supplies "to break Israel's blockade on Gaza".
Endless onslaught
The Palestinian territory was under Israeli naval blockade even before October 7, 2023 and Israel has enforced its blockade with military action in the past.
A 2010 Israeli raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara, which was part of a similar aid flotilla trying to breach the blockade, left 10 civilians killed.
In May, another Freedom Flotilla ship, the Conscience, reported coming under drone attack while en route to Gaza, prompting Malta to send rescue vessels in response to its distress call. There were no reports of any casualties.
Earlier in its voyage, the Madleen changed course near the Greek island of Crete after receiving a distress signal from a sinking migrant boat.
Activists rescued four Sudanese migrants who had jumped into the sea to avoid being returned to Libya. The four were later transferred to an EU Frontex vessel.
Launched in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a coalition of groups opposed to the blockade on humanitarian aid for Gaza that Israel imposed on March 2 and has only partially eased since.
Israel has faced mounting international condemnation over the resulting humanitarian crisis in the territory, where the United Nations has warned that the entire population of more than two million is at risk of famine.
