The Gaza activist ship attacked from the Droons coast by Malta, says NGO

Activists who planned to sail on a Gaza ship claim that it was attacked by drones in international waters off the coast of Malti in the early hours of Friday.

The Freedom Flotilla coalition said its ship’s conscience was directed at 00:23 local time (22:23 GMT) and reported a SOS disaster signal immediately after the attack. The group said it planned to sail to Gaza and “cause the illegal siege and blockade of Israel” there.

The Maltese government said a fire on board the ship was “controlled at night” and that the ship was monitored by “relevant authorities”. It says they are not reported to be casualties.

The Maltese government said 12 crews and four activists were aboard the boat, while the NGO stated that 30 activists were on board.

The NGO seems to have accused Israel of being behind the incident and called for Israeli ambassadors to be called to respond for “violation of international law, including the current blockade and bombing of our civilian ship.”

The Israeli military said it was considering reports of the attack.

The Freedom Flotilla coalition uploads a video showing fire on one of its ships, but did not indicate if anyone was hurt. It says the attack seems to be directed to the generator who left the ship without power and the risk of sinking.

The ship was 17 nautical miles (31.5 kilometers) east of Malta when it was struck.

Cyprus responded to the SOS signal by sending a court, the charity said, but that it did not “provide the necessary critical electrical support.”

The coalition is campaigning to terminate Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

Two months ago, Israel closed all crossings to gas – preventing all goods, including food, fuel and medicines to enter – and later resumed its military offensive, completing a two -month termination of fire with Hamas.

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

At least 52 418 people were killed in Gaza during the subsequent war, according to the health ministry in the territory.