Flotilla carrying pro-Gaza activists struck by drone near Malta, group says
Freedom Flotilla Coalition blames Israel, though origin of strike unclear; Malta says all on board are safe and refusing to leave vessel; activists reportedly tied to Hamas
A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists bound for Gaza was bombed by drones while in international waters off Malta overnight Thursday-Friday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, a pro-Palestinian activist group, said.
The Saudi Al Arabiya news channel, citing a Western security source, reported that the convoy was organized by Hamas and that those onboard planned to engage with IDF troops as they approached the Gaza shore.
The group uploaded video footage on social media ostensibly showing a fire on one of its ships. The footage could not be independently verified.
“The Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been organizing a nonviolent action under a media blackout [sic] to avoid any potential sabotage,” the group said in an official statement on its website. “Volunteers from over 21 countries travelled to Malta to board the mission to Gaza, including prominent figures.”
The statement said the vessel was struck twice by armed drones 17 nautical miles (31.5 kilometers) east of Malta, “causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull,” and that, as of the last communication with the boat, the drones were still circling the ship.
The ship immediately issued an SOS distress call, to which Cyprus responded by dispatching a vessel, the group said.
“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 statement said.
The group also accused Malta of violating customary international law by not sending assistance to the boat. The Maltese government rejected the claim, saying in a statement that a tugboat was sent to the area and brought the fire under control.
The government statement added that there were no casualties from the strike and that the ship’s 16 passengers refused to be taken ashore.
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
“The tug arrived on scene and began firefighting operations. By 1:28 a.m. (23:28 GMT Thursday), the fire was reported to be under control. An Armed Forces of Malta patrol vessel was also dispatched to provide further assistance,” Malta said.
“By 2:13 a.m., all crew were confirmed safe but refused to board the tug… The ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by the competent authorities,” the statement concluded.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition blamed Israel for the strike, saying in its statement: “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 did not provide any evidence for its claim.
While Israel did not officially comment on the allegations, an unsourced report claimed Friday morning that the ship is affiliated with Hamas. “Some define the ship attacked next to Malta as Hamas-affiliated, and say that it was a sophisticated aerial attack,” Yedioth Ahronoth military correspondent Yossi Yehoshua wrote on X.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which is campaigning to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza, said that the purpose of the vessel was “to challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly siege of Gaza, and to deliver desperately needed, lifesaving aid.”
Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, leading to the death of nine of the activists, who resisted the troops and injured 10 of them. Other ships have similarly been stopped and boarded, without loss of life.
Israel stopped allowing aid into Gaza on March 2 after the first phase of its latest ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas concluded. Jerusalem argued that the terror group had diverted much of the aid that entered during the six-week truce.
The halt of aid to Gaza was part of an Israeli effort to pressure Hamas back into a hostage deal. At the same time, the IDF resumed its offensive in Gaza, seizing large sections of the Strip’s territory and killing an estimated 400 members of terror groups, including dozens of top officials in Hamas’s politburo and military wing.
Israel is planning to radically alter the way aid is distributed in the Strip to prevent it from reaching Hamas, The Times of Israel reported on Friday. However, there is no timeline for when the plan, which has yet to receive government approval, will be implemented, and there is skepticism over its feasibility.
Over 2,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed hostilities there on March 18, out of more than 52,400 killed since the war there was sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.
The figures cannot be independently verified, and do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January, and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the Hamas onslaught.
Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.
The Gaza war started when Hamas-led terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages into Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Emanuel Fabian and Jacob Magid contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.