Drone attacks Freedom Flotilla ship attempting to break Gaza blockade
An Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reports that the Freedom Flotilla activist group vessel was attacked by an Israeli [unconfirmed] drone off the coast of Gaza when attempting to break Israel’s blockade on the Palestinian enclave.
Citing sources aboard the ship, Al Jazeera reports that the attack caused a fire. The crew sent a distress signal, which was responded to by the Cypriot navy.
The vessel is now reportedly anchored in international waters off the coast of Malta.
The Freedom Flotilla, formed by peace activists from several countries last year, uses a converted trawler to defy Israel’s blockade and attempt to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
Activists wash the deck of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship Handala as they prepare to sail for Gaza
Activist ship with 30 people on board sinking after drone attack near Malta
Yasemin Acar, a media officer with the group, has now told CNN there is a “hole in the vessel” and the “ship is sinking”.
Acar said the ship was attacked off the coast of Malta in international waters, and it is now anchored 17km (10.5 miles) from the country. The crew has “sent out SOS calls to the surrounding countries” and a “small boat” from Cyprus has been sent to help, she added.
“We have 30 international human rights activists on that vessel at this very moment, on a vessel that is sinking,” said Acar.
Posting on X, the group said a drone attacked the ship twice at 00:23 Maltese time on Friday morning (22:23 GMT on Thursday night), breaching the hull and causing a fire to break out on board.
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
Activist ship cannot move due to fears of sinking, says group
“The ship cannot move at the moment, because if it moves … they won’t be able to stop the water from coming in, and therefore, the ship will sink very fast,” Acar told Al Jazeera.
She was last in touch with the 30 activists more than two hours ago, she added. “We hope that the ship is OK, and we really hope that rescue boats will be sent very soon,” said Acar.
She added: “Last year, we dealt with a lot of bureaucratic warfare, which held our ships at the port in Istanbul for months and months. We had 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid, which we could not deliver to Gaza.
“And so we tried again this year, and unfortunately, they stopped us again. This time around, though, they have started a deliberate attack, knowing very well that this vessel carries activists and humanitarian aid.”
Acar said that the group believes the attack was carried out by Israel or one of its allies, but that it could not confirm this information.
