ATHENS/ROME: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Wednesday strongly condemned an overnight attack on an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza.
In a statement, Crosetto also said he had redirected an Italian navy ship to head toward the flotilla to possibly offer assistance.
Organizers of the Gaza-bound flotilla said late Tuesday they heard explosions and saw multiple drones that targeted some of their boats, currently situated off Greece.
“Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats,” the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement, without adding whether there were any casualties.
“We are witnessing these psychological operations firsthand, right now, but we will not be intimidated,” the statement said.
German human rights activist and flotilla member Yasemin Acar said in a video she posted on Instagram that five vessels had been attacked.
“We are carrying only humanitarian aid,” she said. “We have no weapons. We pose no threat to anyone. It is Israel who is killing thousands of people (and) starving a whole population.”
In an earlier video, Acar said the activists had “sighted 15 to 16 drones,” adding that their radios had been jammed as loud music could be heard.
One video posted by the flotilla’s official Instagram page showed an explosion it said it recorded from the Spectre boat at “01:43 GMT +3.”
In another video posted by the same page, Brazilian activist Thiago Avila said four boats had been “targeted with drones throwing devices” just before another explosion was heard in the background.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Barcelona earlier this month with the aim of breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza and delivering aid to the territory.
It currently numbers 51 vessels, most of which are situated off the Greek island of Crete.
It had already been targeted in two suspected drone attacks in Tunisia, where its boat had been anchored before resuming its voyage toward Gaza.
Among its high-profile participants is environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
Israel said Monday it would not allow the boats to reach Gaza.
Israel blocked two earlier attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July.
Israel has come under huge international pressure over its war in Gaza, which has sparked a dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territory.
Last month, a body backed by the United Nations officially declared famine in part of Gaza.
And on September 16, UN investigators accused Israel of committing “genocide” in the besieged territory, nearly two years after the war erupted following Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
