A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists for Gaza has been bombed by drones and disabled while in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory, its have organisers said.
“At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship came under direct attack in international waters,” the group said in a statement.
“Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull,” it added, blaming Israel.
Israel has not commented on the allegation.
The strike appeared to target the boat’s generator early on Friday, leaving the boat without power and at risk of sinking, the activists said. Images posted to social media by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition showed a fierce blaze on board the ship and explosions.
Twelve crew members and four civilians were “confirmed safe”, the Maltese government said in a statement on Friday. “The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported,” the statement said, adding that a nearby tug had been directed to aid the vessel.
The group said activists from 21 countries were on board on a “mission to challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly siege of Gaza and to deliver desperately needed, life-saving aid”.
The statement read: “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.”
Israel imposed a tight blockade on Gaza two months ago, allowing no food, fuel, medicine or other item into the territory and resumed intense military operations in Gaza in mid-March after a fragile ceasefire collapsed.
Humanitarian organisations in Gaza have distributed the last of their stocks of flour and other foodstuffs. Officials in the devastated Palestinian territory said on Friday that the kitchens that serve basic meals to those with no other option will be forced to close within a week to 10 days.
Israeli officials justify the blockade with claims that Hamas routinely steals aid, distributing it to its fighters or selling it to raise vital funds. Aid officials in Gaza deny any widespread theft of aid in recent months.
A previous Freedom Flotilla launched from southern Turkey in 2010 ended in bloodshed when Israeli forces stormed the Mavi Marmara vessel, killing 10 and wounding 28.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel in October 2023, which resulted in the deaths of about 1,200, mostly civilians. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Thursday at least 2,326 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,418, also mostly civilians.