Activists aboard the Sumud Gaza flotilla claimed that one of their boats, sailing under a Portuguese flag, was struck by what appeared to be a drone near Tunisia.
“The crew and passengers are safe and unharmed,” the group said.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who since the outbreak of the Gaza war has turned her focus toward campaigning against Israel, released a video on her social media channels in which she said:
“I am currently at the port in Tunisia after one of our boats, carrying humanitarian aid, was bombed.”
The activists published what they described as footage of the alleged attack:
Thunberg added: “The boat was part of a humanitarian mission, one of several vessels on their way to Gaza to break the illegal blockade. My friends and I were not on the boat when it was bombed, but others were. It was bombed in Tunisian territory. This is yet another attack aimed at preventing us from reaching Gaza, breaking the siege and silencing those who stand in solidarity with Palestine. We must make sure the eyes of the world remain on Gaza. This will not stop our struggle.”
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Greta Thunberg announced that one of the flotilla bots had been attacked
(Photo: Fabrizio Villa/Getty Images)
The flotilla, dubbed Sumud by activists—a word in Arabic meaning “steadfastness” or “resilience,” long used as a Palestinian resistance slogan—set sail last Sunday from Barcelona toward Gaza. Bad weather forced the boats to return to Barcelona that day, but they relaunched the following morning.
On Wednesday, the anti-Israel activists claimed drones were hovering above their vessels. In a video posted by flotilla participant Yasmine Aker, she is heard saying: “We’ve identified the first drones. From what we can see, there is now a drone above every boat in the flotilla.”
Panic in Greta's flotilla to Gaza: 'There's a drone above every ship, maybe it's the Zionists'
(Video: Instagram)
She said activists were closely monitoring the drones to determine their models and “why they are here.”
Aker, who was filmed last October celebrating after an Iranian attack on Israel, said the drones were spotted when the flotilla was about 170 kilometers from the island of Mallorca.