Gaza Activist Ship ‘attacked by drones’ off the coast of Malta, says NGO

Activists who were planning to sail a tool to Gaza say that it was attacked by drones in international waters off the Maltese coast in the early hours of Friday.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said his ship was aimed at 00:23 local time (22:23 GMT) and immediately gave an SOS signal after the attack. The group said it was planned to sail to Gaza and “to” challenge the illegal siege of Israel and the blockade “.

The Maltese government said that a fire was brought under control on board the ship “at night” and that the ship was followed by “relevant authorities”. It said that no victims had been reported.

The Maltese government said that 12 crew members and four activists were on board the boat, while the NGO said that 30 activists had been on board.

The NGO seemed to accuse Israel of being behind the incident and called on that Israeli ambassadors would be called to answer “violation of international law, including the continuous blockade and the bombing of our civil ship”.

The Israeli army said that the reports of the attack investigated.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition uploaded a video with a fire on one of his ships, but did not indicate whether someone was injured. It said that the attack seemed to have focused on the generator, who let the ship sink without electricity and the risk.

The ship was 17 nautic miles (31.5 kilometers) east of Malta when it was hit.

Cyprus responded to the SOS signal by sending a ship, said the charity, but that it did not “offer the critical electrical support that was needed”.

The coalition is campaigning to put an end to the blockade of Israel of Gaza.

Two months ago, Israel closed all crossings to Gaza – prevent all goods, including food, fuel and medicines, coming in his military offensive – later an end of a cease – the two -month -with -half -fire with Hamas.

The Israeli army launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross -border attack on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were held hostage.

At least 52,418 people were killed in Gaza during the subsequent war, according to Hamas Health Minister of Hamas.