A ship carrying aid for Gaza attacked by drones off the coast of Malta
A ship carrying aid for Gaza was attacked by drones on Friday off the coast of Malta. Activists supporting the Palestinian cause, who were transporting supplies to Gaza, which has been under total Israeli blockade for two months, reported the incident. The Freedom Flotilla activists suspect that Israel was behind the attack, which did not result in any injuries. Cypriot rescue services stated they were informed by the island's authorities about an Israeli drone strike.
The Israeli army, contacted by AFP, did not provide any information. "At 00:23 Malta time (22:23 GMT), the Conscience, a ship from the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was directly attacked in international waters," the organization announced.
"Armed drones targeted the bow of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a significant breach in the hull," they added, calling for Israeli ambassadors to be summoned to respond to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of their civilian ship in international waters.
By early afternoon, after the intervention of Maltese and Cypriot rescue teams, who worked to extinguish the fire, the spokesperson for the Freedom Flotilla in France told AFP that those on board the ship were no longer in danger.
"The fire caused by the first strike is contained, and the hole in the hull has been sealed. Water is no longer entering," said Claude Leostic.
Israel regularly conducts intelligence operations beyond its borders, with several occurring since the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023, which the authorities only admitted to later.
Founded in 2010, the Freedom Flotilla is an international non-violent movement of solidarity with the Palestinians, emphasizing humanitarian aid and political advocacy against the blockade of Gaza.
According to its activists, electricity was cut off on the ship after the attack, which appeared to target the generator.
After a distress signal was launched, Malta dispatched a tugboat that managed to contain the fire an hour after the attack at "01:28" (23:28 GMT), according to a Maltese statement.
Cypriot sea rescue also responded, with the Larnaca center reporting that it had been informed by the Cypriot Foreign Ministry that a vessel likely carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza had been targeted by a missile from an Israeli drone in Malta's search and rescue area.
A Cypriot vessel came to assist in extinguishing the fire, according to this statement.
- "Attack on a civilian ship" -
Activists from several countries, including Turkey, are aboard the ship, participating in what they call a "mission to challenge the illegal and deadly blockade of Gaza imposed by Israel and to deliver vital humanitarian aid that is desperately needed."
Since March 2, Israel has imposed a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and humanitarian operations there are "on the brink of total collapse," according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Turkey condemned the "attack on a civilian ship" and called for "all necessary initiatives to shed light on the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice as soon as possible," according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
In 2010, Israel launched a deadly assault against a ship from an international humanitarian aid flotilla coming from Turkey in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza, resulting in ten deaths and 28 injuries among the activists.
On Friday, Hamas denounced the incident as "an act of piracy and state terrorism."
The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, by an attack from the Palestinian movement against Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
According to figures published on Thursday by the Hamas Health Ministry, 52,418 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, including at least 2,326 since Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18.