A flotilla carrying aid for Gaza and pro-Palestinian activists including Greta Thunberg says one its boats has been struck in a drone attack while docked in Tunisia.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) shared a video showing one of its boats being hit by a flaming object at Sidi Bou Said port, near the Tunisian capital, Tunis. “One of the flotilla’s main boats … was struck by a drone in Tunisian waters,” GSF said. “The boat is sailing under the Portuguese flag and all six passengers and crew are safe.”
Dozens of people gathered at the port after the apparent strike, waving Palestinian flags and chanting: “Free Palestine.”
GSF activists said the vessel, named the Family Boat, had been carrying Thunberg, though she was not onboard at the time of the incident.
Tunisia’s interior ministry said reports of a drone hitting a boat in the port “have no basis in truth”, and that a fire broke out on the vessel itself.
However, the Portuguese activist Miguel Duarte, who was aboard the vessel, said at a press conference in Tunis on Tuesday that he clearly saw a drone just a few metres above his head moments before an explosion.
“The drone stood a few seconds on top of a bunch of lifejackets and then dropped a bomb,” Duarte said. “The bomb exploded, and there was a big flame, there was a fire onboard immediately. We picked up the fire extinguishers, we were able to fight the fire successfully, and everybody was safe, fortunately.”
The GSF said an investigation was under way and its results would be released once available.
The flotilla is an international initiative seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza using civilian boats supported by delegations from 44 countries. Those onboard include Thunberg, who is Swedish, and the Portuguese leftwing politician Mariana Mortágua.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, who lives in Tunis, told reporters at the port: “If it’s confirmed that this is a drone strike, it will be an assault, an aggression against Tunisia and Tunisian sovereignty.”
Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control of the coastal territory in 2007. Israel says it aims to stop weapons from reaching the militant group. The blockade has remained in place throughout the current war, which began when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies showed.
Israel’s subsequent military assault against Hamas has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while a global hunger monitor has said part of the territory is suffering from famine. Israel sealed off Gaza by land in early March, letting in no supplies for three months and sparking a widespread shortage of food. It has said Hamas was diverting aid.
In June, Israeli naval forces boarded and seized a British-flagged yacht carrying Thunberg, among other people. Israel dismissed the aid ship as a propaganda stunt in support of Hamas. In May, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship, was hit by drones and disabled while in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory.
The GSF said it was “determined” to reach Gaza. “Our will is stronger and we are more determined [than ever] to break the blockade against Gaza,” the Tunisian organiser Ghassen Henchiri told a crowd in Tunis.
Nadir al-Nuri, a member of the steering committee, said that the flotilla’s departure from Tunisia was still scheduled for Wednesday.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.