{"id":21610,"date":"2025-05-02T10:45:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T07:45:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/?p=21610"},"modified":"2025-05-02T10:45:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T07:45:47","slug":"drone-strike-hits-activist-aid-ship-headed-for-gaza-source-unconfirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/drone-strike-hits-activist-aid-ship-headed-for-gaza-source-unconfirmed\/","title":{"rendered":"Drone Strike Hits Activist Aid Ship Headed for Gaza;  Source Unconfirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A ship carrying 30 international activists and humanitarian supplies en route to the Gaza Strip was reportedly struck by a drone overnight in international waters near Malta, according to organizers of the self-styled \u201cFreedom Flotilla.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vessel issued an SOS distress signal after allegedly sustaining heavy damage and taking on water.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: At 00:23 Maltese time, a <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FreedomFlotilla?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreedomFlotilla<\/a> ship was subjected to a drone attack. The front of the vessel was targeted twice, resulting in a fire and a breach in the hull. The ship is currently located in international waters near <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Malta?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Malta<\/a>. An <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SOS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SOS<\/a> distress signal was sent. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J6oEQafuOb\">pic.twitter.com\/J6oEQafuOb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GazaFFlotilla\/status\/1918131538794864916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<strong>Organizer Claims: \u201cHole in the Ship \u2013 It\u2019s Sinking\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\nYasmin Asar, spokesperson for the flotilla, told CNN that the vessel suffered two direct hits, allegedly targeting the forward generators. \u201cThere\u2019s a hole in the hull. The ship is sinking,\u201d she said. The ship departed Tunisia on Tuesday, headed toward Malta, in what activists called a \u201cnonviolent mission\u201d to challenge Israel\u2019s maritime security policies around Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>Asar claimed that southern Cyprus dispatched a rescue ship, though contact with the vessel was lost shortly after the strike.<\/p>\n<p><strong>No Immediate Attribution; Speculation Mounts<\/strong><br \/>\nFootage released by the flotilla\u2019s organizers shows the ship engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke and loud explosions. While no entity has claimed responsibility, several Arab media outlets have speculated\u2014without evidence\u2014that Israel was involved.<\/p>\n<p>As of publication, neither Israel nor the Maltese government has issued a statement regarding the reported attack.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Background: The \u201cFreedom Flotilla\u201d Network<\/strong><br \/>\nThe \u201cFreedom Flotilla\u201d is an initiative of pro-Palestinian activists aiming to bypass Israel\u2019s maritime controls around Gaza. Israel maintains that such measures are necessary for security reasons, to prevent arms smuggling to Hamas and other terror groups.<\/p>\n<p>Though the flotilla brands itself as \u201cnonviolent,\u201d previous missions have drawn scrutiny for attempted violations of Israel\u2019s lawful naval blockade, which has been deemed legal under international law by the UN Palmer Report (2011).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirty activists were aboard the \u201cFreedom Flotilla\u201d vessel en route from Tunisia when it was reportedly struck by a UAV in international waters. Israel and Malta have not commented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":21611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,65],"tags":[5100,1476,5101,5102,5103],"class_list":["post-21610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-security","category-world","tag-freedom-flotilla","tag-gaza","tag-israeli-maritime-security","tag-pro-palestinian-activism","tag-un-palmer-report"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.7 (Yoast SEO v24.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Drone Strike Hits Activist Aid Ship Headed for Gaza; Source Unconfirmed - REGA news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drone Strike Hits Activist Aid Ship Headed for Gaza; Source Unconfirmed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thirty activists were aboard the \u201cFreedom Flotilla\u201d vessel en route from Tunisia when it was reportedly struck by a UAV in international waters. Israel and Malta have not commented.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/drone-strike-hits-activist-aid-ship-headed-for-gaza-source-unconfirmed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"REGA news\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-02T07:45:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-02T07:45:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/freedom-flotilla.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"612\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"477\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linoy Reter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Linoy Reter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/drone-strike-hits-activist-aid-ship-headed-for-gaza-source-unconfirmed\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/drone-strike-hits-activist-aid-ship-headed-for-gaza-source-unconfirmed\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Linoy Reter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c3caaac7990d6bd3d3964fb6e0987409\"},\"headline\":\"Drone Strike Hits Activist Aid Ship Headed for Gaza; 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