Malta offers to repair Gaza blockade-busting ship after alleged drone strike
Prime Minister Robert Abela says Freedom Flotilla Coalition must first allow maritime surveyor on board to assess damage to ‘Conscience,’ which will be sent on its way after fixes
VALLETTA, Malta — Malta offered on Sunday to repair an aid ship and send it on its way to Gaza after pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists said the vessel had been hit by a drone strike.
But Prime Minister Robert Abela said the Freedom Flotilla Coalition must first allow a maritime surveyor on board to inspect the “Conscience” and determine what repairs are needed.
The activists had pointed the finger at Israel, which has blockaded the Gaza Strip throughout its military campaign against the Hamas terror group, for the attack. Israel says the goal of its blockade is to pressure Hamas to free the remaining hostages of the 251 taken by Hamas-led terrorists during the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which invaders killed some 1,200 people and started the war.
Activists have previously accused Malta of preventing access to the ship, saying 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. Malta denied the claim, saying the crew had refused assistance.
If the ship can be fixed at sea, it will be, but otherwise it will be towed under Maltese control to the Mediterranean island for repairs, paid for by Malta.
“In the last few hours there was insistence that first the boat comes into Maltese waters and then the surveyor is allowed onboard,” Abela said.
“Before a vessel — any vessel — is allowed to enter Maltese waters then control must be in the hands of Maltese authorities, especially when we are talking about a vessel with no flag, no insurance.”
In an online press conference, members of the coalition who had been due to board the Conscience in Malta — including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg — said they had agreed to allow the inspection.
“When we received this offer from the Maltese government, we consulted with all of our Flotilla Coalition committee members who are on board,” said Brazilian FFC volunteer Thiago Avila.
“And their decision is that this is a good proposition from the Maltese government,” he said. “As long as they can guarantee… Conscience will not be stopped when it wants to leave on the humanitarian mission to take aid to Gaza.”
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.
Low altitude sweeps
The activists explained the Conscience has no flag because the government of the Pacific nation of Palau had announced that it was withdrawing its registration on Friday, the day of the alleged strike.
As a result, authorities in Malta, Greece and Turkey warned that they would seize the ship if it came to port, an activist with anti-war group Codepink told the Associated Press on Saturday. There was no formal comment from those countries.
Otherwise, the activists insisted they had made every effort to comply with international maritime law when embarking on the mission to take aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
According to the Flotilla Coalition, the Conscience was attacked in international waters as it headed for Malta on Friday, causing a fire that disabled the vessel and inflicted minor injuries on crew members.
Maltese and Cypriot rescuers responded. No government has confirmed that the Conscience was the victim of drones, but Cyprus’s rescue agency said it had been informed by the island’s foreign ministry of an Israeli strike.
The Israeli military did not provide an immediate response when contacted by AFP.
First reported by CNN, a flight-tracking service showed that an Israeli C-130 military cargo plane had been in the area immediately before the incident and had made several low-altitude sweeps over the area.
Israel is known for conducting covert operations beyond its borders, including several during the Gaza war that it only acknowledged later.
Conscience 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.
The activists said the strike appeared to target the boat’s generator.
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.
Thunberg told reporters that the incident should not distract from the focus of the boat’s mission to Gaza.
“What we are doing here is to try our very best to use all the means that we have to do our part, to keep trying to break the inhumane and illegal siege on Gaza and to open up humanitarian corridors,” she said.
The Times of Israel Community.