According to CBS News, Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham — who played the stalwart advisor Davos Seaworth from the show's second season through to the end — set sail yesterday on the Madleen, a ship bound for the war-torn Gaza Strip. The Madleen is carrying aid in the form of baby formula, medical supplies and more. It also has several prominent people aboard, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
The boat is operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition. "Unarmed and nonviolent, 'Madleen' poses no threat. She sails in full accordance with international law. Any attack or interference will be a deliberate, unlawful assault on civilians," organizers wrote on social media.
At a press conference, the activists said that the point of the trip is to raise "international awareness" of a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. The conflict started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants from Gaza killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, abducting 251. Isreal launched an offensive in response. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, that offensive has killed over 52,000 Gazans.
Israel has also blockaded aid going into Gaza, although it slightly eased things in mid-May. Still, experts have warned that the population of roughly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza is in danger of famine.
The activists aboard the Madleen expect to take seven days to sail to Gaza, if they're not stopped. Thunberg was previously another ship headed for the Gaza Strip, the Conscious, in early May, but it didn't make it after allegedly being attacked by two drones off the coast of Malta.
As for Liam Cunningham, he's long been outspoken on social issues — just look at his social media presence if you want to see what I mean — and is very concerned with the situation in the Gaza Strip.
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