Swedish NGO buys 2nd ship to help break Gaza blockade

A Swedish-based NGO has bought a second ship to use in its efforts to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

"We will go back again in May 2018 under the name 'Armada for Gaza' to break Israel's blockade," Ellen Hansson, spokeswoman for the Ship to Gaza Foundation, told Anadolu Agency.

Hansson said the group had bought a 20-meter ship built back in the 1970s from Britain.

"The small ships of our armada will travel through waterways in France and our big ships will get to Gaza via the ocean," she added.

Commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Hansson warned: "This decision will bring tears, not peace, to Jerusalem. [He should immediately] revoke this decision, or else there will be great chaos in the region."

Due to the Israeli blockade, the Gaza Strip's roughly 2 million inhabitants have come to rely on a sophisticated network of cross-border tunnels to import basic commodities -- including food, fuel, and medicine.

In May 2010, Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish activists on the Mavi Marmara ship convoy, which was headed for Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, leading to a years-long diplomatic rift between Israel and Turkey.