A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists for Gaza was
bombed by drones in international waters off Malta early on Friday, its
organizers said, alleging that Israel was to blame, reports Reuters.
The Israeli foreign ministry did not immediately respond to
a request for comment on the allegation by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an
international non-governmental group.
The Maltese government said the vessel and its crew were
secured in the early hours of the morning after a nearby tug assisted with
firefighting operations, but the NGO and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said
the ship was still in danger.
Thunberg told Reuters she was in Malta and had been supposed
to board the ship as part of the Freedom Flotilla's planned action in support
of Gaza, which is under blockade and bombardment by Israel.
The NGO published video footage, filmed in darkness, showing
a fire on one of its ships, the Conscience. The footage showed lights in the
sky in front of the ship and the sound of explosions could be heard.
"Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to
violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and
the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters," it said.
The Maltese government said maritime authorities had
received a mayday call shortly after midnight local time from a vessel outside
of territorial waters, with 12 crew members and four civilians on board,
reporting a fire.
It said a nearby tug headed to the scene and launched
firefighting operations and a Maltese patrol vessel was dispatched. After
several hours, the vessel and its crew were secure, it said, adding that crew
had refused to board the tug.
But the Freedom Flotilla said in a statement on its website
that the alleged drone strikes had caused "a substantial breach in the
hull".
"The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted
the ship's generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at
great risk of sinking," it said.
A spokeswoman for the group, Caoimhe Butterly, said the
attack took place as the ship was preparing for activists to board from another
vessel. A transfer at sea had been planned rather than the ship going to
harbour, for bureaucratic reasons, she said.
Thunberg said that as far as she knew, the vessel was still
at the location where it had been attacked and still in imminent danger.
"This attack caused an explosion and major damage to
the vessel, which made it impossible to continue the mission," she said in
a Zoom interview.
"I was part of the group who was supposed to board that
boat today to continue the voyage towards Gaza, which is one of many attempts
to open up a humanitarian corridor and to do our part to keep trying to break
Israel's illegal siege on Gaza," she said.
Thunberg and the NGO said there were 30 people on board, not
16 as the Maltese government said.
The coalition said it had been organising a non-violent
action under a media blackout in order to avoid any potential sabotage.
The Gaza war started after Hamas-led fighters
killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages to Gaza in the October 7, 2023
attacks, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel's offensive on the
enclave killed more than 52,000, according to Palestinian health officials.
Since March 02, Israel has completely cut off all
supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the enclave, and food stockpiled
during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out.
Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010
was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, and nine activists died. Other ships
have similarly been stopped and boarded, without loss of life.
Hamas issued a statement about the incident off Malta,
accusing Israel of "piracy" and "state terrorism".
