Gaza flotilla organization accuses Malta of barring activists from drone-hit ship
Freedom Flotilla Coalition says Maltese authorities preventing vessel from docking for repairs, getting aid for passengers; Malta’s PM says country’s safety must be ensured
VALLETTA, Malta — An international organization accused Malta on Sunday of impeding access to a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid ship that it says was bombed by two drones two days before, and Malta denied the claim, saying the crew had refused assistance.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said Israel, which has blockaded Gaza in its war against the Hamas terror group, was to blame for the incident. Israel has not responded to requests for comment.
The ship Conscience, operated by the coalition, suffered damage to its front section, including a loss of power, when it was hit just outside Maltese territorial waters in the southern Mediterranean, the organization said.
It had been waiting to take on board some 30 activists from around the world before trying to sail to Gaza at the eastern end of the Mediterranean to deliver food and medicines.
Malta, Greece, and Turkey are said to have denied the ship entry and threatened to confiscate it.
The organization said volunteers from 13 countries who tried to reach the ship from Malta on Friday and Saturday were intercepted by the Maltese military, which had forced them back to Malta under threat of arrest.
The Saudi Al Arabiya news channel, citing a Western security source, reported Friday that the aid ship had been arranged by Hamas and that those onboard planned to engage with IDF troops as they approached the Gaza shore.
“The humanitarian ship Conscience has been blocked in international waters since it was attacked by two drones in the early morning of May 2,” the coalition said in a statement.
It said Maltese authorities had also prevented the ship from putting into port to repair the damage and get help for four people aboard who it said suffered cuts and burns in the drone attack. It was the first mention of any injuries.
Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta was continuing to offer assistance to the ship, but that Malta’s security needed to be safeguarded. He said the ship’s captain was continuing to refuse to allow a surveyor and Malta police on board.
Once it was verified that the ship’s cargo was solely humanitarian, Malta would facilitate repairs so that it could continue its voyage to Gaza, Abela said.
Malta has had a consistent policy of supporting Palestinian causes and last month admitted a number of injured Gaza children for medical treatment.
A Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, leading to the death of nine of the activists, who violently resisted the troops and injured 10 of them. Other ships have similarly been stopped and boarded without loss of life.
Hamas issued a statement about the incident off Malta, accusing Israel of “piracy” and “state terrorism.”
The Maltese government said on Friday that the vessel and its crew were assisted in the early hours of the morning, when the attack was reported, with a nearby tug helping put out fires.
The stop on aid entering Gaza is 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.
According to the terror group’s health ministry, more than 52,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting since the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel, killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. The toll reported by Hamas, which rules Gaza, cannot be verified and does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel during the initial Hamas onslaught.
The Times of Israel Community.