Italy deploys navy ship to help Gaza aid flotilla after drone attack

ATHENS/ROME - An international aid flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza said on Sept 24 it was attacked overnight by drones in international waters off Greece, prompting Italy to send a navy ship to come to its assistance.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is using about 50 civilian boats to try and break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, with many lawyers and activists onboard, including

Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

The vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 30 nautical miles (56km) off the Greek island of Gavdos, said Ms Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla.

All passengers are safe after drones exploded over the vessels, she told Reuters.

GSF said the attack affected 11 vessels and blamed Israel and its allies for “explosions, unidentified drones and communications jamming,” saying it would not be intimidated and would continue to sail.

Ship mobilised

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in a statement the sea convoy had been targeted by “currently unidentified perpetrators”.

He expressed the “strongest condemnation” of the incident.

He ordered the Italian multi-purpose frigate Fasan, previously sailing north of Crete, to head towards the flotilla “for possible rescue operations”, focusing primarily on Italian citizens.

The GSF called on other nations to “ensure and facilitate effective protection, including (with) maritime escort, accredited diplomatic observers, and an overt protective State presence. Italy has now taken a first step in this direction.”

Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla, accusing its activists of complicity with the Hamas militant group.

On Sept 24, the foreign ministry repeated an invitation for the flotilla to drop humanitarian aid in an Israeli port, leaving it to Israeli authorities to take it to Gaza, or else face consequences.

“Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade,” a ministry statement said.

It made no comment on whether it was responsible for the drones.

Earlier this month, the flotilla blamed Israel for other drone strikes on its boats while they were moored in a Tunisian port.

Israel did not respond to those accusations.

Grenades, ABBA

The drones came in the middle of the night dropping stun grenades and itching powder, damaging the sails of some boats, according to two leftist Italian members of the European Parliament aboard the flotilla.

Before the attack, onboard radios started playing “very loud ABBA music,” Ms Annalisa Corrado of the Democratic Party said in a video message.

“We thought it was a joke, but no, it was the first act of intimidation, to tell us they were close enough to get into our radio systems.”

The attack lasted around three hours until 4am local time, Ms Benedetta Scuderi, of the Greens-European Free Alliance group told Italian public radio RAI.

A Greek coastguard official told Reuters that members of the flotilla contacted them around 2am to inform them of the incident. When approached by the European Union’s border agency Frontex, however, the flotilla said it did not require assistance, the official added.

EU solidarity

In Brussels, a European Commission spokeswoman said “any use of force against the flotilla is not acceptable”, adding that “we totally understand” the activists’ desire to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza.  

Israel launched the nearly two-year war in Gaza in response to

the Oct 7, 2023 attacks

on the country by Hamas militants which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, the conflict has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and has spread famine, destroyed most buildings, and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times. REUTERS