Walid El Houri
The
drone attack against a humanitarian ship bound for Gaza near Malta is not the
first.
The front of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship shows severe structural damage after the reported drone attack. Image via Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0.
In the early
hours of May 2, 2025, the humanitarian aid ship the Conscience, operated by the
Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was struck by drones in international waters near
Malta. The attack caused significant damage, ignited a fire, and disabled the
ship, which was traveling from Tunisia to Gaza to deliver essential supplies
and protest Israel's siege.
The group
shared a statement on social media:
The vessel,
registered under the Palau flag, was en route to deliver food and medical
supplies and bring 30 global peace activists including climate activist Greta
Thunberg to Gaza.
“This is just
another example of how international law and human rights are being
disregarded. This is an act of terrorism to attack a humanitarian mission like
that,” Thunberg said on social media. The freedom flotilla also accused the
Maltese authorities of blocking the volunteers from reaching the ship and
preventing it from docking for repairs and treating four injured individuals.
“We are
currently watching a live streamed genocide in Gaza, where 2 million people are
being deliberately starved,” Thunberg added.
Malta denied
the accusations, stating the ship's crew refused to allow official inspection
and assistance. Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta is willing to facilitate
repairs once the cargo is verified as solely humanitarian, stressing national
security concerns.
Not the first
time
The incident
echoes previous Israeli attacks on Gaza-bound aid ships, including a fatal 2010
event when Israeli commandos intercepted the Mavi Marmara, killing nine people
onboard and injuring many others, including one who later succumbed to his
wounds.
The ship was
part of a flotilla transporting humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.
“It was a big story, more than 600 humanitarian activists, politicians, and
doctors from 40 different nations had put together this fleet to deliver things
like baby incubators and medicine to the people of Gaza,” one of the survivors
recalls.
The United
Nations Fact-Finding Mission to investigate the attack found that six of the
people who were killed were summarily executed. Autopsies revealed that five
were shot in the head from distances between two and 15 cm.
The attack on
the Conscience was largely met with international and Arab silence. While
Turkey condemned the incident, citing that its nationals were on board, and
pledged to seek accountability, many other nations remained silent, including
the European Union, despite the attack taking place on the borders of its
international waters.
Systematic
starvation
As the
Conscience was attacked, the humanitarian crisis in Gaza worsened reaching what
the UN secretary general described as “appalling and apocalyptic.” UNICEF
warned of starvation, reporting that “more than 9,000 children have been
admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.”
The
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that “dozens of deaths have been
reported from malnutrition or lack of medical care. The latest is a
four-month-old infant, Jenan Saleh al-Skafi, who died of severe malnutrition at
Al-Rantisi Hospital in western Gaza City.”
The
organization called on states parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfil
their obligation under Common Article 1 and “and act urgently to halt the
genocide occurring in Gaza.”
By May 2, the
Israeli blockade had led to the deaths of at least 57 Palestinians due to
starvation, as thousands of trucks carrying vital supplies piled up at the
border with Egypt.
The attack on
the Conscience, the continuous starvation, and the subsequent international
silence and inaction underscore the growing accusations of failure of the
international community to uphold international law and stop what has been
described as “the worst campaign of systematic starvation in modern history.”
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