An activist group searching for to interrupt Israel’s siege on Gaza by sea stated one among its primary boats was struck by a drone at a port in Tunisia Monday night time, however all six passengers and crew are secure.
Tunisia’s National Guard stated claims of an assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) boat at the Sidi Bou Said port had been “not based in truth.” It stated an preliminary investigation discovered {that a} fireplace had damaged out on the vessel from a lighter or a cigarette butt.
But a video of the incident, revealed by GSF, confirmed an incendiary object fall from the sky and explode on influence with the boat.
GSF stated the vessel struck was generally known as the “Family Boat,” which has beforehand carried GSF Steering Committee members. It stated the Portuguese-flagged ship had sustained fireplace injury to its primary deck and below-deck storage.
The vessel is one among round 50 within the flotilla trying to interrupt Israel’s naval blockade and carry aid into Gaza. The flotilla left Barcelona final week and plans to sail throughout the Mediterranean to the besieged enclave. Its members embrace Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and the Irish actor Liam Cunningham.
The “Family Boat” has carried a few of the most high-profile members of the flotilla in current days, together with Thunberg, though she was not onboard at the time of the incident, according to Yusuf Omar, an activist who was onboard.
Speaking at a press convention close to the Tunisian port, Miguel Duarte, a Portuguese activist on board the Family Boat, described how he heard a drone buzzing overhead late Monday night.
“I came out of the cover of the deck to see a drone hovering about three or four meters above my head,” Duarte stated Tuesday.
He stated one other particular person got here onto the deck to see the drone, which then “moved to the forward part of the deck” and “dropped the bomb,” inflicting a fireplace on board.
“This is a shameful attack, and we will not be deterred,” Duarte instructed reporters.
Since Israel imposed a complete blockade of Gaza in March, teams like GSF have tried to sail ships carrying aid into the enclave, though Israel has intercepted them.
In May, a Gaza-bound aid ship caught fireplace and issued an SOS, after what its organizers claimed was an Israeli drone assault off the coast of Malta in worldwide waters. The Israeli army declined to touch upon the incident.
In June, a yacht with 12 activists on board, together with Thunberg, was intercepted off the coast of Gaza. Israel dismissed it as a “selfie yacht” carrying “less than a single truckload of aid.”
NCS has requested the Israeli army for touch upon Monday’s incident in Tunisia.
In an announcement, GSF stated that “acts of aggression aimed at intimidating and derailing our mission will not deter us.”