Israel outrageously attacks civilian boat taking aid to Gaza – in international waters

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has condemned a drone attack on an unarmed civilian boat in international waters. The ship was taking aid to occupied Gaza two months into Israel’s blockage of humanitarian support for the Palestinian territory.

Activists have described the attack as part of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, emphasising that the world must not ignore either.

Deliberate attempt to sabotage the arrival of Freedom Flotilla aid to Gaza

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is “a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from different parts of the world, working together to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza”. And it had been seeking to avoid sabotage of its action by not revealing its mission to the media. However, as international volunteers left Malta, they came under attack. The coalition said:

Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull. The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship.

It added that:

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.

The FFC’s Nicole Jenes told Al Jazeera from Malta that people on board:

were hiding in the night in the rooms of the ship because they were afraid of the drones …  We lost contact with them

The FFC, meanwhile, said:

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.

And it urged international condemnation of “this aggression against an unarmed humanitarian aid vessel”.

BREAKING: At 00:23 Maltese time, a #FreedomFlotilla ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. The ship is currently located in international waters near #Malta. An #SOS distress signal was sent. pic.twitter.com/J6oEQafuOb

— Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) May 2, 2025

The Maltese government has claimed the ship’s fire is under control it is monitoring the vessel’s situation.

This is already the ‘new normal’. The world must not allow it to continue.

Jenes stressed that the attack on the Freedom Flotilla:

is an extension of the genocide that is happening in Gaza and cannot pass unpunished

The arrival of aid to Gaza is urgent. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has asserted that humanitarian attempts to support civilians in Gaza are “on the verge of total collapse”.

Francesca Albanese, the UN’s ‘special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967′, concluded last year that Israeli occupation forces were committing a “settler colonial genocide” in Gaza. Responding to the drone attack on the ship, she called on authorities to “ascertain the facts and intervene appropriately”. But she also lamented that:

This isn’t a dystopic future.

It is ALREADY the new normal.

Waging wars where full destruction is the goal.
Dismembering children with no respite.
Imposing sanctions on an int'l court.
Unflagging a humanitarian ship moments before it gets hit by a drone. Not responding to SOS.

This isn't a dystopic future.
It is ALREADY the new normal. https://t.co/28NUhXLeHM

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 2, 2025

Genocide apologists have celebrated the attack. And as author Dyab Abou Jahjah explained:

The drone strike on the Freedom Flotilla in international waters is a blatant act of terrorism and piracy by Israel.

A civilian ship, carrying humanitarian aid and international activists, was deliberately attacked.

Israel is a rogue genocidal regime, bombing hospitals, murdering children, and now targeting peace missions at sea.

Letting this slide invites future strikes, maybe in national waters or even on national territories of the states protecting Israel today.

A regime murdering civilians en masse and in impunity is bound to export violence, this is a prelude.

Featured image via the Canary