New Zealanders William Alexander and Ava Mulla are on board a boat that is trying to reach Gaza. Photo: Supplied
A New Zealander who is on a boat that's trying to reach Gaza says she felt a mixture of fear and pride.
Israel says 171 activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, have now been deported to Greece and Slovakia.
Israel's navy intercepted the ships last week, as they attempted to reach Gaza to deliver aid.
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand members of the Global Samud Flotilla currently in an Israeli jail would be deported to Jordan on Wednesday.
Another flotilla, the Freedom Flotilla, is now trying to do the same, and two Kiwis William Alexander and Ava Mulla are among those on board.
New Zealanders William Alexander and Ava Mulla are on board The Conscience which is about three days away from reaching Gaza. Photo: Supplied
Alexander said they were on a boat called The Conscience and they were currently about three days away from reaching Gaza.
"It's a pretty old boat built in the 1970s, we left from Otranto, Southern Italy seven days ago and we're now just north of Alexandria or Cairo in Egypt."
Mulla said there were about 80 people on board who were mostly health care workers and media workers, as well as 10 crew members.
Alexander said they were people from 26 different nationalities on the boat and everyone was in very high spirits.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, a group of dozens of boats carrying about 500 people, had been trying to break Israel's military blockade when some of the vessels were intercepted by the Israeli military.
"We have had news about the treatment of the Sumud participants and that has not lowered the mood at all and has not deterred in our mission to reach Gaza, if anything it's spurred us on," Alexander said.
He said they were not the story but their job was to point the finger at Gaza.
"Gaza is the story."
Asked whether they were apprehensive that they were likely to be intercepted and detained given that was what had happened to the earlier flotilla, Mulla said there was "a feeling of fear and anxiety of what might happen".
"We had a bit of a taste of rough treatment at the global march to Gaza in Egypt and that did shake me, I've never experienced violence against my person," she said.
"It pales in comparison to what Palestinians have been suffering for decades at the hand of Israelis and that's without the media attention that we get and without legal representation."
Mulla said they were as well prepared as possible and she felt a mixture of fear, but also pride to be involved in it and "a feeling of calmness to know we're doing the right thing".
Alexander said his New Zealand-based family was concerned.
"But they know this is a cause that's very close to my heart and they've told me that they're proud of me for what I'm doing."
Asked what message he would have for the two Kiwis on the latest flotilla, Peters said those on the previous flotilla were told they would never get there.
"And here they are back doing it again, and getting all the headlines."
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