Drone Strike Hits Largest Ship in ‘Freedom Flotilla’ Off Tunisia
The Global Freedom Flotilla’s organizing committee confirmed the targeting of the Spanish vessel Alma in the port of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia.
Palestine, PUREWILAYAH.COM - A drone attacked the largest ship in the Freedom Flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip early Wednesday morning off the Tunisian coast, causing a fire on board.
Media sources reported that firefighting teams and the ship’s crew later managed to bring the blaze under control, and all crew members on the flotilla escaped the attack unharmed.
The Global Freedom Flotilla’s organizing committee confirmed the targeting of the Spanish vessel Alma in the port of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia.
On Tuesday, the “Global Freedom Flotilla” — carrying aid and activists bound for Gaza — announced that one of its boats had been hit by a drone strike late Monday–Tuesday night, sparking a fire on board.
In a statement posted on its Instagram page, the flotilla, which departed from Barcelona, Spain, in a bid to “break the Israeli blockade” on the Palestinian enclave, said the boat — carrying six people — was near the port of Sidi Bou Said when it “was struck by a drone.”
The flotilla added that the vessel sustained material damage and condemned “acts of aggression aimed at obstructing its humanitarian mission” to Gaza.
Defiance in the Face of Danger
This attack comes as the flotilla prepares to continue its journey toward the besieged Palestinian territory, in an international initiative aimed at breaking Israel’s years-long blockade on Gaza, amid growing warnings of the risks of repeated attacks on participating ships.
Earlier, the Tunis-based organizing committee for the Freedom Flotilla to break the blockade said the flotilla would sail to Gaza on Wednesday as planned, regardless of circumstances.
In a press conference, the committee added that the incident involving one of the ships in Tunisia is under security investigation but would neither deter the flotilla nor change its course. The participants’ focus, it said, remains on the situation in Gaza, and their determination to break the blockade is unwavering.
Participants in the flotilla said a security official in the Tunisian capital informed them that the press conference they planned to hold was unauthorized, forcing them to hold it in the street instead.
UN Backs Flotilla’s Resolve
Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, affirmed that Tuesday’s incident involving one of the flotilla’s ships in Tunisia would not disrupt its mission.
Albanese praised the flotilla participants for acting on behalf of the people of Gaza, saying they were moving in solidarity with Gaza’s residents.
The flotilla is expected to reach Gaza in mid-September, following earlier attempts in June and July that were blocked by Israel.
Largest Convoy in the Initiative’s History
The Global Freedom Flotilla includes activists, European parliamentarians, and public figures, among them former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, Portuguese leftist MP Mariana Mortágua, and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
The fleet is made up of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the Global Gaza Movement, the Steadfastness Convoy, and Malaysia’s “Nusantara Steadfastness” organization. It carries hundreds of activists from 44 countries aboard dozens of ships loaded with medical supplies and food aid.
Delegations participating in the Global Freedom Flotilla from Tunisia are preparing to join others who have already departed from Spain and Italy, forming a fleet of more than 70 ships — the largest number since the initiative began sailing toward Gaza.
Wael Nawar, a member of the Joint Action Coordination for Palestine, stated that the number of participants has reached 1,000 from 44 countries, all ready to sail despite looming dangers. He said they are prepared for all scenarios — whether bureaucratic obstacles, bombardment, arrest by Israeli forces, or reaching Gaza. (PW)