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KARACHI: A former Pakistani senator is set to join Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and Portuguese lawmaker Mariana Mortágua on a multinational flotilla that will set sail next week in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid.

The mission comes as Palestinians in Gaza continue to suffer from nearly two years of Israel’s war that has killed more than 62,000 people, including children, doctors, health workers and journalists, according to Gaza health authorities and the United Nations. The UN has warned of crimes against humanity and reported “catastrophic levels of forced starvation” in the territory, with more than two million people at risk of famine.

The fleet of over 100 vessels, which will converge in the Mediterranean, is bringing together four regional alliances: Sumud Nusantara from Asia, Sumud Maghrib from Africa, the Global March to Gaza from the Middle East, and the Freedom Flotilla Coalition from Europe.

Mushtaq Ahmad Khan, affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami religious party, said he would be representing Pakistan on the Sumud flotilla, which organizers describe as the largest civilian maritime mission ever assembled for Gaza.

“This mission is entirely peaceful, non-violent, and rooted in humanitarian solidarity,” Khan told Arab News over the phone from Tunisia. “The aim is to break the blockade, establish a humanitarian corridor and stop ongoing genocide.”

Organizers have said the mission is the largest non-state humanitarian fleet in history, coordinated by grassroots groups rather than governments. In a statement, the Global Sumud Flotilla said its “allegiance is to justice, freedom, and the sanctity of human life.”

Training for the voyage will be held in Tunisia from September 1–3, after which Khan and other participants are due to set sail on September 4. The cargo will consist of food, water and medicine.

“While the quantity may be symbolic, the true aim is to break the blockade and awaken the global conscience,” Khan said, adding that the flotilla’s position was “fully legal” as it would travel through international waters.

“Our destination is Gaza’s territorial waters. We will have no engagement or interaction with Israel and from a legal standpoint, our position is sound.”

The Pakistani delegation was flagged off earlier this week at a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur attended by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Khan said he is currently the only Pakistani participant, as other members are still awaiting visas.

The flotilla builds on more than a decade of similar attempts to challenge Israel’s maritime blockade. In June this year, Thunberg sailed from Sicily with humanitarian supplies on another Freedom Flotilla vessel, the Madleen, which was intercepted and seized by Israeli forces in international waters.

Khan said he and other participants were prepared for the risks, recalling blockades and attacks on past flotillas, including the deadly 2010 raid on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara that left 10 activists dead.

“There are three possible outcomes,” he said. “We either reach Gaza successfully, we are intercepted and deported, or we are attacked. We are risking our lives deliberately, not for fame, but for justice.”

ISLAMABAD: At least 30 people have been killed and more than 1.5 million affected as high floods in the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers submerged over 2,300 villages across Pakistan’s breadbasket province of Punjab this week, the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA) said on Saturday.

The deluge, driven by record monsoon rains and water releases from upstream India, has inundated swathes of Pakistan’s most populous province, crippling rescue and relief operations and forcing mass evacuations. Officials warn the flood threat would intensify in the coming days as fresh rains lash northeastern Punjab and flows peak at major headworks.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority’s most recent monsoon toll, more than 830 people have died across Pakistan since June 26.

In Lahore, the PDMA confirmed two lightning-related deaths during the latest thunderstorms, while floods elsewhere in Punjab have left 30 people dead. 

“Due to severe flooding in rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab, 2,308 villages have been affected,” Punjab Relief Commissioner Nabeel Javed said in a statement released by the PDMA. 

“A total of 1.516 million people have been impacted while 481,000 trapped residents were rescued to safer places.”

He said 511 relief camps and 351 medical camps had been set up in flood-hit districts, along with 321 veterinary camps. Around 405,000 animals have also been shifted to higher ground.

“Compensation for citizens’ losses will be ensured under the instructions of the Punjab chief minister,” Javed said, adding that damages to farmers would also be assessed.

The NDMA said it had dispatched emergency rations to Sialkot and Narowal, some of the worst-affected districts, at the request of Punjab authorities. 

“NDMA has provided 500 ration bags each for flood-hit areas of Sialkot and Narowal,” the agency said. “A convoy of eight trucks has been sent carrying relief goods … while more consignments are planned for Wazirabad, Hafizabad, Chiniot and Jhang in the coming days.”

RISING WATERS

Flood Forecasting Division (FFD) data on Saturday showed exceptionally high flood levels at Ganda Singh Wala on the Sutlej and at Balloki on the Ravi, with the Chenab at Trimmu projected to rise to similar levels within 24 hours and Panjnad expected to reach very high flood on September 3. The Indus at Guddu was also forecast to swell dangerously by September 5.

“Exceptionally high flood level will continue in river Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala,” the FFD bulletin warned, adding that the Chenab at Trimmu was on track to reach the same threshold within a day.

DG PDMA Irfan Ali Kathia told reporters in Lahore 303,000 cusecs of water were flowing at Ganda Singh, where the army and local administration had evacuated 20 villages overnight.

He added that more than 175,000 cusecs were flowing at Head Marala on the Chenab, while dangerous levels were expected at Head Islam in the next 24 hours.

Punjab’s flooding crisis comes amid what the Met Office described as the ninth spell of monsoon rains, expected to continue until September 2. Heavy showers were recorded in Mandi Bahauddin (81 mm), Hafizabad (63 mm), Jhelum (50 mm), Sialkot (47 mm), and other districts over the past 24 hours.

The PDMA also reported that India’s Bhakra Dam is currently 84 percent full, Pong 94 percent, and Thein 92 percent, raising concerns of further cross-boundary water surges. 

Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of releasing excess flows into downstream rivers during monsoon peaks, intensifying flood risks in Punjab’s agricultural belt.