Ship Sailing to Gaza With Aid & Activists Suffer Onboard Fire After Alleged Israeli Drone Attack

A ship sailing to Gaza with humanitarian aid and activists was bombed by drones in international waters off the coast of Malta on Friday.

The organisers, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a non-governmental group, said that Israel might be behind the attack.

They said that their ship, The Conscience, became the target of an attack at 00:23 local time and sent out an SOS signal after the incident happened.

The captain of the flotilla ship could be heard saying there were drone strikes and fire onboard the vessel. Fortunately, everyone was later reported safe, and the fire was brought under control.

The Organisation had planned to sail the ship to Gaza with climate activist Greta Thunberg and to challenge the Illegal Siege and blockade of Israel, due to which around 2 million Palestinians have been under a complete blockade.

The Israeli military stated that it was investigating reports of the attack.

Greta Thunberg said that she was supposed to board the vessel destined for Gaza, in an attempt to open a humanitarian corridor and do their part in trying to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza and demand a free Palestine.

She added that the ship is still at the location where the attack occurred, as moving it would lead to a lot of water gushing in.

The government of Malta said there were 12 crew members and 4 activists on the ship, but the NGO stated there were 30 activists onboard the vessel.

The NGO also uploaded a video of the fire, saying the attack targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the ship without power and on the verge of sinking.

The ship departed from Tunisia on the evening of Tuesday and is now 12 to 14 nm off Malta.

Not only the coalition, but even foreign ministers of the U.K, France and Germany described the Israeli decision to block humanitarian aid as ‘intolerable’.

Reports suggest that food will run out in Gaza in a few days. Two months ago, Israel closed all crossings to Gaza, preventing the entry of fuel, food and medicines, and resumed its military offensive, after ending a 2-month ceasefire with Hamas.

A few humanitarian organisations, like the World Food Programme, have said that they have run out of food, while community kitchens in Palestine have said that their stocks are about to end.

Watch the video for more-

Video Credits: Guardian News 

References: BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, The Guardian 

Source: Maritime Shipping News