Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned an overnight drone attack on a flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, but also criticised the mission as “dangerous and irresponsible” and claimed it was aimed at “creating problems” for her government.
Meloni’s comments came after Italy said it was sending a navy ship to assist the convoy of about 50 vessels, which have on board many pro-Palestinian activists, including the Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, after it was attacked in international waters off Greece.
Speaking to journalists in New York, where she was attending the UN general assembly, Meloni said the multipurpose frigate Fasan was not expected to use military force.
She added that her government had proposed to hand over the flotilla’s aid to Cyprus and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to prevent further risks and was expecting an answer from the flotilla activists about this compromise proposal.
The attack late on Tuesday marked the third time this month that the flotilla had been targeted by drones. There have been no reports of injuries.
Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla, accusing its activists of complicity with the Hamas militant group.
“Multiple drones, unidentified objects dropped, communications jammed and explosions heard from a number of boats,” the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), organiser, said in a statement. “We are witnessing these psychological operations first-hand, right now, but we will not be intimidated.”
Italian defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said in an earlier statement the convoy had been targeted by “currently unidentified perpetrators” and expressed the “strongest condemnation” of the attack.
He said the navy ship, which had previously been sailing north of Crete, was “already en route” towards the flotilla “for possible rescue operations”.
Life Support, a search and rescue vessel that is accompanying the flotilla to provide medical and logistical support, said it witnessed drone attacks on several boats in the fleet.
“From the bridge, we saw a large number of drones approaching from different directions, and the flashes of explosions hitting several boats,” said Anabel Montes Mier, head of mission on board Life Support.
“The flotilla has informed us that no one was injured, but some boats were damaged. We would like to remind everyone that this is a non-violent, humanitarian mission and we strongly condemn any act of violence or attack on the flotilla,” she added.
The German human rights activist, Yasemin Acar, said in a video posted on Instagram that five vessels had been attacked.
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.
Benedetta Scuderi, an Italian MEP with the Greens-European Free Alliance group, told La Repubblica that the drones had dropped stun grenades, with one of them hitting the mast of the sailing boat on which she is travelling.
In another video posted by the same page the Brazilian activist, Thiago Avila, said four boats had been “targeted with drones throwing devices” just before another explosion was heard in the background.
Earlier this month, the GSF said that it was attacked by drones over two days while stationed in Tunisia. None of the passengers or crew were harmed during those events.
At the time Tunisia’s interior ministry said at least one of the reports of drones had “no basis in truth”.
The flotilla set sail from Barcelona in late August to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”, organisers said.
It currently numbers 51 vessels, most of which are situated off the Greek island of Crete.
Israel said Monday it would not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza. Israel blocked two earlier attempts by activists to reach Gaza by sea in June and July.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
