Irish activists who had been due to board a ship bound for Gaza which was attacked by drones off the Maltese coast are “safe”, according to a campaign spokeswoman.
As The Irish Times and the BBC report, the ship named Conscience which was due to take supporters of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to Gaza was anchored in international waters off the Maltese coast when the incident occurred early on Friday morning.
The Cork Palestine Solidarity campaign said a number of Irish activists had been due to board. Climate activist Greta Thunberg also confirmed she had due to board the vessel.
The campaign said 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 Maltese government said everyone aboard the ship was "confirmed safe" and that a fire onboard the ship was "brought under control overnight".
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has called for Israeli ambassadors to be summoned to answer for "violation of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel".
The BBC reports that the Israeli military “said it was looking into reports of the attack”.
The coalition is campaigning to end Israel's blockade of Gaza, which is also facing mounting international condemnation.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said earlier today in a statement that it was “unconscionable that the current suffering is continuing in Gaza”, where no humanitarian or commercial supplies have entered in over eight weeks as a result of the Israeli blockade.
“Children are starving. Hospitals are running out of basic painkillers. The World Food Programme has said that its food stocks are now depleted. Life-saving aid is available and urgently needed, but trucks cannot cross into Gaza,” Harris said, calling on Israel to immediately lift the blockade and urging all parties to return to talks to bring about a permanent ceasefire.
Speaking to journalists in Valetta, Thunberg said that she was “part of the group who was supposed to board that boat today to continue the voyage towards Gaza, which is one of many attempts to open up a humanitarian corridor and to do our part to keep trying to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza”.
"What is certain is that we human rights activists will continue to do everything in our power to do our part, to demand a free Palestine and demand the opening of a humanitarian corridor," she said.
Read The Irish Times and BBC here
