After drone attack, Freedom Flotilla plans fresh Gaza mission with new boat
12 crew members remain onboard stricken vessel
The group behind the mission to deliver aid to Gaza by sea that was reportedly struck by Israeli drones just outside Maltese waters is planning a new mission with a different boat.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s vessel Conscience was allegedly attacked while anchored at Hurd’s Bank on May 2. Initial plans were for it to dock in Malta to pick up additional activists, as well as pallets of humanitarian aid, but was denied entry after being stripped of its flag the day before the strike.
Following days of negotiations between the FFC and the Maltese government, maritime surveyors boarded the boat to carry out an inspection. In a statement, the government described the damage to the front of the boat as 'minor’ and said it had offered to pay for repairs to the vessel while it remained out at sea.
In a statement on its website posted on Thursday, the Coalition said that, in the face of “state terrorism, media silence, and mounting global complicity”, its mission to deliver aid to Gaza would continue later in May with a new vessel, the Madleen.
The Conscience is still anchored off Hurd's Bank without a flag and its 12 crew members remain onboard.
“Our coalition is powered by ordinary people from more than 20 countries... united by the conviction that no people should be deliberately starved, maimed, murdered, or forced to suffer. The Freedom Flotilla is moving forward, because the world has waited too long to take bold action,” the group said.
Questions sent to the group remained unanswered at the time of writing, as did questions sent to the government.
On May 7, six activists who were on the boat were brought to shore under police escort before being bundled onto a flight to Turkey. They were initially not allowed to meet other activists.
The remaining 12 crew members have remained onboard the stricken boat ever since.
Military and maritime security experts who spoke to Times of Malta in the days after the incident said they believed the boat was attacked with loitering munitions in the form of drones. An Israeli military plane spent three hours in Maltese airspace before the incident took place.