Drones hit ‘Freedom Flotilla’ Gaza support ship in worldwide waters | Israel-Palestine battle News | USAEMALL.com

Freedom Flotilla Coalition demands Israel answer to violations of international law, including blockade and ‘bombing of our civilian vessel’.

A ship carrying aid to Gaza in a bid to break Israel’s blockade has been hit by drones in international waters off Malta, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the group that organised the mission.

The FFC said in a statement on Friday that the vessel, now located 14 nautical miles (25km) from Malta, was the target of two drone strikes while on its way to Gaza. The ship had been seeking to deliver aid to the besieged enclave, where aid groups warn people are struggling to survive following a two-month total blockade by Israel.

“Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull,” the group said.

The statement did not directly accuse Israel of carrying out the attack.

However, it did demand that “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters”.

Israel has not commented on the drone strikes.

Nicole Jenes of the FFC told Al Jazeera that the attack on the Conscience at 12.23pm local time (10:23 GMT) on Friday morning blew a hole in the vessel and set the engine ablaze.

The strike left 30 Turkish and Azeri activists on board engaged in a frantic effort to bail out water and keep the vessel afloat, she added.

The group statement said “a vessel from Southern Cyprus” had been dispatched after it sent SOS calls.

Later on Friday, the Maltese government said in a statement that the fire on the ship had been brought under control and that the vessel was being monitored by authorities. It was unclear whether the authorities had directly intervened to put out the fire and what has happened to the activists.

Jenes, currently in Malta, said that the group was not aware of the situation on board the ship as communication with the crew had been lost.

“They were hiding in the night in the rooms of the ship because they were afraid of the drones …  We lost contact with them,” she said.

‘On the verge of total collapse’

The FFC, formed by peace activists from several countries last year, uses a converted trawler to try to defy Israel’s blockade on Gaza.

Israel halted humanitarian aid two months ago, shortly before it broke a ceasefire and restarted its war against Hamas, which has devastated the Palestinian enclave and killed more than 50,000 people.

“It’s very important to … understand this attack is an extension of the genocide that is happening in Gaza and cannot pass unpunished,” Jenes said, insisting that the FFC is asking the world to turn its eyes to the blockade.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a report released on Friday that the humanitarian response in Gaza is “on the verge of total collapse”.

“Six weeks of intense hostilities, combined with a complete blockage of aid for two months, have left civilians without the essentials they need to survive. Without an immediate resumption of aid deliveries, the will not have access to the food, medicines, and life-saving supplies needed to sustain many of its programmes in Gaza,” the ICRC said.