“It’s honestly a little frightening,” said Laura, a Belgian student and one of 40 pro-Palestinian activists who were set to board the aid ship Al Awda (“The Conscience”) headed for Gaza, just outside Maltese waters. Before they could join, two drones disabled the vessel in international waters, around 17 kilometers (10.5 miles) off Malta’s coast.
The ship, targeted over the weekend some 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) from Israeli shores, had departed Tunisia last week and was headed for Malta as part of the “Freedom Flotilla,” a campaign by activists aiming to “break the siege on Gaza.”
Spokeswoman Yasmine Asar said the drone strike targeted the ship’s generators. Videos released by organizers showed the vessel engulfed in flames and smoke, with loud explosions audible. No injuries were reported but the ship is now stranded at sea.
For the passengers on board and the 40 activists on the ground in Malta — among them Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg — there’s no doubt who was behind the strike. “It’s scary because we ran full risk assessments before this humanitarian sail and we trusted what Defense Minister [Israel Katz] said — that he'd allow us in just to evacuate some Gazans to Europe,” Laura said.
“But what happened Thursday, when Palau suddenly asked us to remove its flag and exposed us as unprotected, showed not only how ruthless Israel is and how far its hand can reach but also how complicit other countries are — willing to violate international law just to starve more babies in Gaza,” she added.
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“It’s scary to know that governments, including mine, are cooperating. It’s frightening that arms-laden ships sail freely, but 30 people with humanitarian aid are bombed in the middle of the sea.”
Footage of strike on ship off of Malta
On Sunday, the activists who were blocked from boarding gathered in Valletta’s main square with dozens of locals to protest Malta’s refusal to let the ship dock or even allow it to pump out water from its lower deck.
“The ship’s at risk of sinking due to water intrusion and the international community is preventing any access or assistance,” said Andrei, a pro-Palestinian activist who was scheduled to join the flotilla.
In an interview with the Times of Malta, Thunberg explained the reason for organizing the mission: “Right now two million people are being delivered to starved by Israel in Gaza and it is our responsibility as human beings to do everything in our power to try to demand an end to that.”
For now, unless a humanitarian or sanitary crisis unfolds aboard, the ship appears stuck indefinitely in international waters. No country has agreed to intervene. Malta’s government issued a statement saying it would assess the situation and form a committee to investigate who was behind the drone strike.