The vessels of the Gaza-bound flotilla say they were attacked overnight Tuesday by drones and heard numerous explosions near their 40-vessel fleet.
The flotilla has been sailing toward Gaza for 24 days, having left Barcelona on September 1. Around 20 sailboats joined the flotilla in southern Sicily, swelling its ranks to the current 40.
The flotilla had spent a week in Tunisia in early September. Over the last week, it has sailed from Sicily and arrived off the southern coast of Crete. It is in these waters, some 45 km. off the coast of Crete, that the flotilla claimed it came under attack. It has now changed course to head northeast toward the Greek national waters around Crete.
The flotilla also says it has been joined by the large 50-meter Life Support ship. This large red ship is operated by an Italian NGO called Emergency.
“Emergency NGO boat is also sailing along Global Sumud flotilla fleet to provide much needed support,” the flotilla wrote on social media. The large vessel can be seen on open source ship tracking sites such as Vessel Finder. By Wednesday evening, this vessel and the flotilla were around 12 nautical miles south of Crete.
Challenges faced by the Gaza flotilla group
The flotilla now faces several hurdles. It wants to meet up with a group of six ships that sailed from the Greek island of Syros on September 14. Those vessels arrived in southeastern Crete over the last two days.
However, the flotilla has 65 nautical miles of sailing to reach the Greek group of boats. This will take it another night of sailing at its present pace of 5 knots an hour. As such, the flotilla appears headed for Cretan waters. Once the two groups combine, the flotilla will have some 45 vessels.
The flotilla has claimed it faced Israeli attacks in the past. It claimed it was attacked by drones twice while at anchor off Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia.
However, the incidents overnight Tuesday seem more serious. The flotilla appears shaken. Members have continued to highlight Israeli Foreign Ministry statements that accuse the flotilla of being linked to Hamas.
In addition, Israel has called on the flotilla’s armada of ships to put in at Ashkelon and transfer the aid they claim to be carrying to Israeli officials. So far, the flotilla has rejected this.
Now the activists want more support from their home countries. They are calling on various European countries to monitor and possibly assist or protect them.
Many of the activists have citizenship in European countries. The vessels also are registered in European countries. As such, they expect protection from Italy, the UK, Ireland, and other states.
The activists said that “hundreds of elected representatives from across the EU demand immediate protection for the Global Sumud Flotilla after last night’s attacks in European waters. The letter comes as Italian MPs force their Government to deploy a naval vessel to safeguard their nationals at sea. Together with parliamentarians across the continent, we now call on other states to follow with protective presence to ensure the safe passage of the fleet as it establishes a humanitarian corridor to Gaza.”
The flotilla has around 500 more miles of sailing to reach the coast of Gaza. With weather conditions changing, it could take them up to a week to make the passage. The armada has to travel at the speed of its slowest ship. As such, it makes usually around 5-6 knots an hour, which means it travels about 100-150 miles every day.
However, its course is not direct and doesn’t currently head toward Gaza. The flotilla appears concerned about further incidents in open sea. It may hug the coast of Crete and hope that having the large vessel Life Support and possibly other assistance will enable it to make its way south of Cyprus.
There are Turkey-Greece naval drills taking place in the eastern Mediterranean at the moment, which began on Monday.