Photo Herberto Smith
A local man has told The Echo he is safe after a Palestinian humanitarian aid effort he is part of was attacked by drones in international waters near Malta recently.
In a media statement, organisers of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition say Australian human rights activists were about to board a vessel carrying much needed aid destined for Gaza, ‘where no aid trucks have been permitted entry since March 2, 2025’.
The statement reads that on May 2, ‘Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, 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.
‘Under international maritime law and conventions, Malta is obliged to act and ensure the safety of a civilian ship in distress within its proximity. The lack of response and information about the rescue efforts breaches international customary law.
Law violated
‘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’, said the statement.
The Echo reported in April 2024 that Surya McEwen volunteered on the flotilla.
He said at the time, ‘This type of operation has never been done in an active war zone. This makes the risk and necessity accentuated, there has been lots of voyages undertaken by the flotillas, but never at this scale’.
McEwen told The Echo last week, ‘Just arrived home from Malta, and got reunited with my phone. Sixty humanitarians from 22 countries were planning to sail to Gaza with aid’.
‘Eighteen people were on the ship when it was bombed twice, just after midnight on May 2, while the other 40 were preparing to join the ship a few hours later’.
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