A flotilla comprising six ships aiming to break Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip has set sail from a port in Cyprus. Two other ships were damaged over the weekend, and remain in port in Cyprus.
Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall, reporting from the flotilla's lead vessel, Mavi Marmara, said the ships finally left port on Sunday, after several false starts. "People [on board] are relaxing, they are having their supper, very happy the final journey has started," he said.
"We have so many kinds of people here ... all of different creeds, philosophies and politics. "But they are all united around one goal - they want to break the siege on Gaza and do something about what they call an injustice against the Palestinian people."
The organisers of the fleet, dubbed the Freedom Flotilla, said they might launch a second smaller convoy of boats on Tuesday, which would include the two damaged ships, plus a third that has yet to arrive.