TORONTO – The Canadian coordinator of the Gaza Freedom March and three other activists ended their 30 hour hunger strike at 1 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, satisfied with the media and public attention they brought to the killing of humanitarian aid activists by Israeli Defense Forces the day before.

“Many times things like this happen and it goes unseen,” said Ruch, searing under the mid-day sunshine on the sidewalk outside the Israeli Consulate on Bloor Street.

TORONTO - Sandra Ruch fell asleep around 11 pm Sunday evening, confident that the Gaza Freedom Flotilla was going to sit still in international waters before making a move Monday to deliver desperately needed aid and supplies to Gaza.

The impoverished Palestinian territory is still reeling under a 3-year-old blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.

Fifteen minutes later, she received a text message from a colleague saying the flotilla of three cargo ships and three passenger ships that were carrying 10,000 tons of aid and 700 activists had been attacked, killing some activists while wounding others.