- Italy has deployed a second navy ship to escort the Global Sumud Flotilla delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza after reported drone attacks.
- The flotilla, comprising around 50 civilian vessels and including international activists, reportedly suffered damage but no injuries.
- Spain has also sent a naval ship, while the EU condemned the use of force and supported the flotilla’s humanitarian mission.
Italy has dispatched a second navy ship to escort the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international humanitarian mission attempting to deliver aid to Gaza, Times Of Israel reported.
This decision follows reports of drone attacks on the flotilla's vessels in international waters near Greece.
The flotilla, consisting of approximately 50 civilian boats, includes activists such as Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg. The drones reportedly dropped stun grenades and irritants, causing damage to some boats but no injuries. While the flotilla has accused Israel of the attacks, Israel has not directly responded but reiterated its offer to have the aid delivered through Israeli ports.
In addition to Italy's response, Spain has also deployed a naval vessel to ensure the safety of its citizens aboard the flotilla. The European Union has condemned the use of force against the flotilla and expressed understanding of the activists' motives amid Gaza's ongoing humanitarian crisis.
On September 24, organisers of a Gaza-bound flotilla, carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists said that they heard explosions and witnessed multiple drones target their boats from late Tuesday to early hours of Wednesday. The attack reportedly happened off the coast of Greece, AFP reported.
“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.
Yasemin Acar, a German activist who was also on-board on one of the boats posted a video on Instagram stating that she sighted 15-16 drones attacking five boats in the fleet.
Nearly one in three people in the Gaza Strip are going days without food, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) has warned, as the humanitarian situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave deteriorates further.
"Malnutrition is surging with 90,000 women and children in urgent need of treatment," the WFP said in a statement on Friday, raising alarm over the scale of hunger and starvation gripping the territory.
Warnings of famine in Gaza have grown more dire in recent days. According to the Hamas-run health ministry, nine more people died of malnutrition on Friday, bringing the death toll from starvation-related causes to at least 122 since the war began in October.