Evil, cartoon of 05/05/2025 in CTXT
On Friday 2 May at 00:23 Malta time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla ship, was directly attacked in international waters.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition had been organising a non-violent action under information censorship to avoid any possible sabotage. Volunteers from more than 21 countries travelled to Malta over the past few days to board the mission to Gaza. On the morning of its scheduled departure, the ship was attacked.
Armed drones reportedly attacked the bow of an unarmed civilian ship twice, causing a fire and a major breach in the hull. The last communication received from the ship indicated that the drones were still flying over it.
The ship, located in international waters off the coast of Malta, issued an SOS signal immediately after the attack. A Southern Cypress ship was dispatched, but for hours the necessary electrical support was not guaranteed. The drone attack appears to have deliberately targeted the ship's generator, leaving the crew without power and putting the vessel at serious risk of sinking.
On board are international human rights activists on a non-violent humanitarian mission to challenge Israel's illegal and deadly siege of Gaza and deliver urgently needed life-saving aid.
Since 2 March 2025, Israel has banned all aid trucks from entering Gaza, deliberately starving more than two million civilians in full view of the international community. Humanitarian experts estimate that the people of Gaza need at least 600 truckloads of aid a day to cover even the most basic needs, yet not a single truck has been allowed in for two months.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Rome reported that a tug has been dispatched and is on the scene. Our communications with the vessel were disrupted during the attack and we cannot confirm this. Under international maritime law and international conventions, Malta is obliged to act and ensure the safety of a civilian vessel in distress in its vicinity. The lack of response and information on rescue efforts violates customary international law.
Rumbo a Gaza believes, among other things, that Israeli ambassadors should be summoned and held accountable for violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and shelling of its civilian ship.
The flotilla claims that an Israeli Hercules C-130 military aircraft entered its flight information area at an altitude of 1,500 metres on Thursday night from the east and stayed for at least three and a half hours in this area before returning to Israel. The bombing took place only a few hours later.
The Maltese government says there is no confirmation of a link between the Israeli military aircraft and the Flotilla incident. The Israeli military has avoided making any statement on this incident, even to deny its involvement.
The Maltese government stated that no aircraft or vessel cited in local and foreign media in connection with an attack on the NGO ship "Conscience" entered Maltese airspace or waters at any time.
In 2010, at least nine people were killed by Israeli commandos who attacked a convoy of six boats carrying hundreds of activists and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at dawn. On that occasion, the Israeli army confessed to the crime at the mouth and the images were broadcast on Al Jazeera and almost all international media.
Members of the humanitarian convoy claimed that Israeli soldiers boarded their boats from helicopters and fired shots to suppress the crew, despite their display of white flags.
Israel's version was that the commandos fired after being attacked with firearms and sharp weapons. An Israeli army spokesman said at least four soldiers were injured in the operation, one of them shot. According to flotilla spokesmen, the attack left 30 activists wounded, but according to the BBC, an Israeli television station reported the death toll as high as 15.
Israel's strategy, in its utter disregard for life, is to exterminate the Palestinian population in every possible way, including starving them to death.
It must continue to be remembered that the genocidal state of Israel maintains a siege and siege on Gaza that has now been in place for more than two months and includes a blockade of all humanitarian aid. According to the International Red Cross Committee, urgently needed humanitarian aid in Gaza is on the verge of total collapse.
"It has been 66 days without the Israeli authorities allowing supplies into Gaza".
