Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the humanitarian flotilla's move to Gaza was "dangerous and irresponsible," hours after her government's defense minister announced that an Italian navy ship had been dispatched to provide possible aid to the convoy.

"There is no need to risk our security. There is no need to go to a war zone to provide aid to Gaza, something that the Italian government and the competent authorities could have done in a matter of hours," Meloni told Italian media before addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The prime minister said her government had proposed that the flotilla's aid be delivered to Cyprus and the Latin Church in Jerusalem.

The flotilla, which currently includes 51 ships, aims to break the Israeli blockade that allows only very limited aid to enter Gaza.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has repeatedly stated that the spread of hunger in Gaza is a direct result of the Israeli government's policy of blocking humanitarian aid.

In August, a UN-backed global hunger watchdog declared a famine in the region, calling it "man-made."