The Hamas-linked Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Friday that one of its ships heading for the Gaza Strip was targeted by attack drones in international waters near Malta overnight on Thursday.
The Flotilla Coalition claimed that the vessel was struck twice by suicide drones 17 nautical miles (19.5 miles) east of the island country, “causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.
“The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking,” according to the statement on Friday morning.
The coalition noted in the statement that its latest attempt to breach Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza had been organized “under a media blackout to avoid any potential sabotage.” Volunteers from 21 countries were aboard the ship, “including prominent figures,” it said.
Maltese authorities sent a tugboat and brought the flames under control, local media reported. There were no casualties from the strikes, and the ship’s passengers refused to be taken ashore, the reports said.
“The ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by the competent authorities,” Valletta said in a statement on Friday.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which includes anti-Israel and Islamic NGOs linked to Hamas, stated some four months ago that “in 2025, we are determined to take to the seas to break the siege of Gaza.”
The coalition vowed to “continue acquiring vessels and securing crew and participants.”
The umbrella group includes several Turkish NGOs, among them the Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the Mavi Marmara Association, responsible for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which nine activists were killed after they attacked Israeli naval commandos.