A ship carrying humanitarian aid and international activists to Gaza was attacked by armed drones in international waters off the coast of Malta early Friday morning, severely damaging the vessel and halting its mission, according to its organizers.
The ship, Conscience, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was struck at approximately 12:23 a.m. local time, the group said in a statement. The vessel, unarmed and clearly marked as civilian, suffered two drone strikes that ignited a fire and tore a substantial breach in its hull, leaving it without power and at risk of sinking.
An image posted online by the coalition showed explosions and flames aboard the vessel. Although no definitive evidence of drone use has been publicly confirmed, Cypriot authorities released photos showing extensive structural damage. There were no casualties reported among the 12 crew members and four passengers, according to the Maltese government, which dispatched a nearby tugboat to assist the stricken vessel.
The coalition accused Israel of carrying out the attack. “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,” the group said.
Israel has not commented on the incident.
The Conscience departed from the Tunisian port of Bizerte on Tuesday and was en route to pick up additional activists, including Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg, near Malta. Thunberg confirmed she was set to board the vessel on Friday.
“I was part of the group who was supposed to board that boat today to continue the voyage towards Gaza,” she told Reuters. “This attack caused an explosion and major damage to the vessel, which made it impossible to continue the mission.”
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has a history of attempting to break the Israeli blockade on Gaza. A 2010 mission from Turkey ended in bloodshed when Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, killing 10 activists and wounding dozens. Turkish officials confirmed that Turkish nationals were also aboard the Conscience, condemning the latest attack in the “strongest terms.”
“This is an attack on a civilian ship in international waters, and we will make every effort to identify the perpetrators and hold them accountable,” Turkey’s foreign ministry stated.
The incident comes amid a deepening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. The Israeli blockade, in place since October 2023, has tightened in recent months, with no food, fuel, or medicine allowed into the territory. Aid organizations have warned of an impending famine and the total collapse of healthcare and food distribution systems.
The International Committee of the Red Cross issued an urgent plea Friday, saying, “Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza. Hostages must be released. Civilians must be protected. Without immediate action, Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate.”
Medical supplies for chronic illnesses like cancer and diabetes are nearly nonexistent, and remaining hospitals are overwhelmed. “I don’t know how people are managing,” said Amjad Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network. “They have lost everything.”
A United Nations team is currently in Gaza to assess the severity of malnutrition and the risk of famine, as hundreds of thousands remain displaced and desperate.
Israeli officials have justified the blockade by accusing Hamas of commandeering aid for its fighters. However, humanitarian organizations on the ground dispute these claims and warn that new Israeli plans to distribute aid through private contractors could violate international law and prove ineffective.
The war in Gaza began following Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel in October 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people. Since then, at least 52,418 Palestinians have died, according to Gaza’s health ministry, most of them civilians.
