Drones strike ship carrying aid to Gaza, organizers say
TEL AVIV Israel AP Drones attacked a vessel carrying aid to Gaza while it was in international waters off Malta on Friday the group organizing the shipment declared A fire broke out but was brought under control according to government A nearby tugboat responded to a distress call from the Conscience which was carrying crew members and four civilians Malta s establishment noted adding that those aboard refused to leave their ship The group was safe and no injuries were informed it revealed The Freedom Flotilla Coalition accused Israel of attacking its ship It did not provide evidence of that or that the fire was caused by drones but in a video it shared an explosion can be heard Another video indicated a fire blazing The Israeli army didn t respond to a request for comment Israel has cut off Gaza from all imports including food and medicine since the beginning of March leading to what is concluded to be the worst humanitarian dilemma in nearly months of war with Hamas Israel says it is an attempt to pressure the militant group to release hostages it took during the Oct attack that triggered the conflict Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel that day killing particular people mostly civilians and abducting Hamas is still holding hostages of whom are considered to be alive In response Israel launched an offensive that has killed over Palestinians mostly women and children according to Gaza s Wellness Ministry which does not say how multiple of the dead were fighters or civilians Israel s bombardment and ground operations have destroyed vast areas of the territory and left the greater part of its population homeless When an aid flotilla attempted to break a blockade of Gaza in Israeli forces stormed a Turkish ship Mavi Marmara killing nine people on board On Friday the Conscience was hit about miles kilometers from Malta according to the Freedom Flotilla Charlie Andreasson who has been involved with the group for more than a decade narrated The Associated Press that he had spoken to people on board who commented there were two explosions and a fire broke out Photos provided by the Cypriot agents displayed the ship with damage to its side People on board the ship were not forthwith reachable for comment Earlier the group mentioned the strike appeared to have targeted the ship s generator causing a substantial breach in the hull and leaving it without power It disclosed that put the vessel at danger of sinking According to the monitoring website Marine Traffic the Conscience left the Tunisian port of Bizerte on Tuesday and arrived in the area where it stated being attacked on Thursday morning The organizers stated the ship was hit Friday just after midnight Contributors including prominent figures who had traveled to Malta were meant to board the ship to go to Gaza the group stated Andreasson announced setting activist Greta Thunberg was supposed to have participated The organization declared Thunberg did not board and was safe The event comes as aid groups have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is on the verge of collapse The International Committee of the Red Cross announced Friday it will not have access to food medicine and life-saving supplies needed for multiple of its Gaza programs if aid deliveries don t resume at once Programs at danger include common kitchens that often give residents the only meal they receive each day and could be forced to halt operations in a sparse weeks the ICRC revealed Aid must be allowed to enter Gaza Hostages must be circulated Civilians must be protected it disclosed Without immediate action Gaza will descend further into chaos that humanitarian efforts will not be able to mitigate Brito contributed from Barcelona Spain Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv Israel Giada Zampano in Rome Kevin Schembri Orland in St Julian s Malta Colleen Barry in Soave Italy Elena Becatoros and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem Jamey Keaten in Geneva Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia Cyprus and Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed Follow AP s war coverage at https apnews com hub israel-hamas-war Source
