The global Freedom Flotilla Coalition says its ship, loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza, was struck with drones in international waters off Malta, 3 May 2025 – Freedom Flotilla
CAIRO – 3 May 2025: The global Freedom Flotilla Coalition says its ship, loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza, was struck with drones in international waters off Malta early Saturday, blaming Israel for the attacks.
The ship Conscience caught fire and sustained a substantial breach in the hull after armed drones attacked the front of the unarmed civilian ship twice, the coalition said.
The ship immediately issued an SOS distress signal, to which a vessel from southern Cyprus responded but could not provide the critical power support that the Conscience needed.
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 Maltese government said that all passengers on board the ship are safe, and that the fire has been brought under control. It added that there were 12 crew members and four activists on board.
Freedom Flotilla defines itself as “a global coalition highlighting the inhumanity of the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.”
“On board are international human rights activists on a nonviolent humanitarian mission to challenge Israel’s illegal and deadly siege of Gaza, and to deliver desperately needed, life-saving aid,” the coalition said after the incident.
Freedom Flotilla urged the international community to condemn this attack against the vessel and demanded that the Maltese authorities immediately act.
The coalition also called for all countries to end their political, financial, and military support for Israel’s illegal siege, occupation, and apartheid.
Israel has blocked humanitarian aid going to Gaza since early March after the expiration of the first phase of a ceasefire that stopped the fighting in the strip for two months before Israel resumed the war.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children, according to health authorities, devastated basic infrastructure and facilities like bakeries, and left the enclave on brink of famine.
The UN warned on Friday of the unfolding of the “worst-case scenario” in Gaza, home to around 2.2 million people, amid the ongoing Israeli blockade, which threatens mass starvation.
“Food stocks have now mainly run out, water access has become impossible,” said Spokesperson of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Olga Cherevko. “Gaza is inching closer to running on empty.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged concerted international efforts to halt the humanitarian catastrophe “from reaching a new unseen level.”
“Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime, and so do all forms of collective punishment,” he warned.