More than 1,000 people have gathered at a Tunisian port to welcome an aid boat from Barcelona carrying environmental activist Greta Thunberg and other pro-Palestinian campaigners seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, AFP reports.

“We all know why were are here,” said Thunberg. “Just across the water, there’s a genocide going on, a mass starvation by Israel’s murder machine.” European Parliament member Rima Hassan joined crowds at Sidi Bou Said port to greet the Global Sumud Flotilla.

“The Palestinian cause is not in the hands of governments today. It is in the hearts of peoples everywhere,” said Hassan. She praised the “role that the people play today in the face of the cowardice of states that prevent any solidarity with the Palestinian people”.

Hassan did not say whether she would join the flotilla when it resumes its voyage to Gaza on Wednesday.

Organisers said more than 130 people from various countries have registered to embark on boats from Tunis to join the flotilla.

The Global Sumud Flotilla calls itself an independent organisation with no affiliation to any government or political party. The flotilla departing from Tunis had already been delayed “technical and logistical reasons”, its organisers said.