A Gaza-bound ship that was reportedly hit by drones last week is unable make port after the Republic of Palau revoked its flag rights, the Hamas-linked Freedom Flotilla Coalition claimed on Saturday.
Authorities in Malta, Greece and Turkey have threatened to confiscate the vessel if it docks at their ports, Tighe Barry, a US-based anti-Israel activist with the CodePink group, told the Associated Press.
"To get a new flag will take months, so they’re just stuck out there," said Barry, an octogenarian who was supposed to board the vessel before it would attempt to run the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
Barry said the Pacific island nation, which often votes with Israel at the U.N., revoked the flag of the ship, named Conscience, before the drone attack.
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela stressed on Sunday that while his country would not let the Conscience dock, "especially since it doesn’t have a flag and insurance," his government was offering to repair the damage if it is truly carrying aid.
"We are offering to pay for the repairs after we confirm the ship is, indeed, carrying humanitarian aid," Abela told reporters, the Times of Malta reported. "That’s another fact that must be established, as the crew is yet to provide a list of what is on board the vessel. The moment we confirm it's humanitarian aid for Gaza, we will take care of the repairs.
"The captain is refusing to let the surveyor on board," the Maltese prime minister said. "We also offered to take all crew and passengers in, but the offer was refused."
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has said that the vessel was struck twice by drones 17 nautical miles (19.5 miles) east of Malta overnight on Thursday, "causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.
"The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship’s generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking," according to the statement on Friday morning.
The coalition noted in the statement that its latest attempt to breach Israel's blockade of Gaza had been organised "under a media blackout to avoid any potential sabotage." Volunteers from 21 countries were aboard the ship, "including prominent figures," the group said.
There were no casualties from the alleged strikes. Maltese authorities sent a tugboat and brought the fire on the vessel under control.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition includes several Turkish NGOs, among them the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the Mavi Marmara Association, responsible for the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, in which nine activists were killed after confronting Israeli naval troops off the coast of Gaza.
The coalition has accused Israel of launching the drone strikes on the Conscience, saying that “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters."
A JNS request for comment to the Israel Defense Forces regarding the allegations went unanswered as of press time on Sunday afternoon.
An Israeli Air Force plane left Israel on Thursday and circled Malta hours before the alleged attack, the Times of Malta reported on Friday. According to the report, which cited flight tracker data, the C-130 Hercules spent around three hours in the country's airspace.
"What happened is very serious. Israel appears to have flown an unauthorized military aircraft over Malta, an EU state, and in breach of our neutrality. This is very serious," a local military source told the daily.
The Israeli government stated in response, "At no point in time, during the past 48 hours, did any aircraft or vessel, currently mentioned in local and foreign media in relation to the case of the vessel Conscience, enter Maltese Sovereign Airspace or the territorial sea." It added, "The territorial integrity of Malta was never compromised at any stage."
In March, Israel Katz, Jerusalem's minister of defense, instructed the Israel Defense Forces to refrain from blocking foreign pro-Palestinian protesters seeking to enter the Gaza Strip by sea, but rather to seize their vessels.
According to Israel’s Channel 12, the March 6 announcement came in response to intelligence suggesting that protest groups were preparing renewed attempts to breach the blockade of the enclave.
“Whoever comes to demonstrate on the shores of Gaza, we will send them into Gaza and use the ships to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving voluntarily,” Katz said.
His office added, "The defense minister instructed the IDF to allow the protest flotillas to reach Gaza's coast, disembark the protesters in Gaza, and seize the ships and transfer them to Ashdod Port so that they can be used to evacuate Gaza residents who are interested in leaving Gaza."
