Two ships set sail Sunday evening from the Greek island of Syros to join the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international mission aiming to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid, AFP journalists saw.

Chanting "Free Palestine", around 500 people gathered at the port of Ermopoulis to see off the two Greece-flagged boats, the Oxygen and Ilektra, carrying goods for famine-hit Gaza along with five and eight people on board respectively.

"This is the way to show Israel that it shouldn't have the right to impose starvation," Kostas Fourikos, a 39-year-old crew member told AFP. "And of course to send the message of solidarity to the Palestinians, who suffer so much."

Another crew member, Angeliki Savvantoglou, said the flotilla aimed to "put pressure on our own governments

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