• Israel strikes 150 times across Gaza, killing more than 40 Palestinians
• Boat ‘Handala’ with 15 activists on board carrying medical and food supplies
• No breakthrough in talks for temporary ceasefire

SICILY/GAZA: A Gaza-bound boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists and humanitarian aid left Sicily on Sunday, over a month after Israel detained and deported people aboard a previous vessel, as Israel struck 150 times across Gaza in the past 24 hours, killing more than 40 Palestinians, most of them civilians, amid a deadlock in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas.

The Handala boat, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, left the port of Syracuse shortly after 12pm carrying about 15 activists.

Several dozen people, some holding Palestinian flags and others wearing keffiyeh scarves, gathered at the port to cheer the boat’s departure with slogans of “Free Palestine”.

The former Norwegian trawler — loaded with medical supplies, food, children’s equipment and medicine — will sail for about a week in the Mediterranean, covering roughly 1,800 kilometres (1,120 miles), in the hope of reaching Gaza’s coast.

The boat will make a stop at Gallipoli, in southeastern Italy, where two members of the hard-left France Unbowed party (LFI) are expected to join.

The initiative comes six weeks after the departure of the Madleen, another ship that left Italy for Gaza transporting aid and activists, including Greta Thunberg.

Israel authorities intercepted the Madleen about 185 kilometres west of Gaza’s coast.

“This is a mission for the children in Gaza, to break the humanitarian blockade and to break the summer silence on the genocide,” said Gabrielle Cathala, one of the two France Unbowed party members set to board the boat on July 18.

“I hope we will reach Gaza but if not, it will be yet another violation of international law” by Israel, she added.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli air strikes on Sunday killed more than 40 Palestinians, most of them women and children, including at a market and a water distribution point, as talks for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas stalled.

Delegations from Israel and the Palestinian group have now spent a week trying to agree on a temporary truce to halt 21 months of devastating fighting in the Gaza Strip.

But on Saturday, each side accused the other of blocking attempts to secure an agreement at the indirect talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

On the ground, civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said at least 43 people were killed in the latest Israeli strikes, including 11 when a market in Gaza City was hit.

Elsewhere, eight children were among the 10 victims of a drone

strike at a water point in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza, Bassal said.

Khaled Rayyan told journalists he was woken by the sound of two large explosions after a house was hit in Nuseirat.

“Our neighbour and his children were under the rubble,” he said.

150 targets in a day

The Israeli military said in a statement its air force struck 150 times across Gaza in the past 24 hours. It released aerial footage of what it said were fighter jet strikes attacking what it claimed Hamas targets around Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, showing explosions on the ground and thick smoke in the sky.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean journalists are unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.

Talks to seal a 60-day ceasefire and Israeli prisoner release were in the balance on Saturday, as Israel and Hamas accused each other of trying to block a deal.

Hamas wants complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, but Israel had presented plans to maintain troops in more than 40 per cent of the territory.

A Palestinian source said Israel wanted to force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into the south of Gaza in preparation for forcibly displacing them to Egypt or other countries.

Hamas-run Gaza’s health ministry says that at least 57,882 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Israel attacks. The UN considers the figures reliable.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2025