Early on Friday, drones targeted a ship delivering humanitarian aid and activists for Gaza in international waters off Malta. Its organizers claimed Israel was responsible.
The foreign ministry of Israel did not reply right away to a request for comments on the complaint made by the international non-governmental Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Maltese authorities claimed the ship and its crew were locked in the early hours of the morning following a nearby tug helping with firefighting operations, but the NGO and Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg claimed the ship remained in risk.
Thunberg told Reuters she was in Malta and had been scheduled to board the ship in line with the Freedom Flotilla’s intended operation in support of Gaza, under blockade and attack by Israel.
The non-profit released gloomy, nighttime video footage depicting a fire on one of its ships, the Conscience. The video revealed lights in the sky ahead of the ship and audible explosion sounds.
“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 declared.
According to the Maltese government, marine officials answered a mayday call from a vessel outside of territorial waters with twelve crew members and four civilians reporting a fire shortly after midnight local time.
Said a nearby tug headed for the scene, it started firefighting efforts and dispatched a Maltese patrol vessel. The vessel and its crew were safe after many hours; it stated the crew had refused to board the tug.
