Explosions cripple with the help of the Gaza Strip in the Mediterranean

A ship with 16 people and humanitarian aid for Gaza was shaken by explosions early Friday off the coast of Malta, which put the ship on fire and, according to the human rights group that runs the ship, took the risk.

The ship and its crew were safe after a tractor had wiped out the fire after a call from Mayday, the Malta government said in a statement. It was not said what the fire had caused and added that the authorities monitor the ship that was in international waters in the Mediterranean.

The ship, which was known as a certain and was operated by a group called Freedom Flotillillillillilli Coalition, left Tunisia with human rights activists and help at the beginning of this week. The group tried to challenge Israel and Egypt’s blockade of Gaza by trying to provide humanitarian aid on the sea by sea.

Before the ship went to Gaza, he should stop in Malta and pick up about 40 more people, including the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, said Yasemin Acar, a spokeswoman for the group.

The source of the explosion was not determined and it was not known whether the ship was intentionally targeted.

In a statement, the group proposed that an Israeli drone strike was responsible for the explosion, but did not provide any final evidence.

Two experts consulted by the Times could not finally determine whether a drone had hit the ship due to a review of the pictures of damage to the ship.

The crew members of the ship near Malta said they were assumed that they were hit by a drone attack, the coalition said. Armed drones fired in front of the ship at 12:20 p.m. local time, the coalition said in a statement.

This triggered a fire, caused a significant violation of the fuselage and broke the generator on board, whereby the crew left without electricity. Parts of the group could not be confirmed independently.

The video provided by the Freedom Flotillillillillilli Coalition seems to show a fire on the ship’s deck when an alarm fails. Safety material that was recorded after the reported time of fire shows that people on the ship assess the damage as a man who holds a fire extinguisher.

The authorities in Malta said they had received a passenger ship of the same name from a passenger ship of the same name at 12:20 p.m., which reported a fire on the bow. No victims were reported, said the Maltese government. On Friday morning it was unclear whether the damaged ship was allowed to create in Malta.

According to Malta’s explanation, a nearby tractor ship with fire brigade equipment helped control the fire at 1:30 a.m. Less than an hour later, the crew was confirmed as safe.

Ann Wright, another spokeswoman for the group, said that the crew had remained on board instead of evacuating to watch over the disabled ship.

The group asked the crew to collect the debris from the explosions so that it can undergo a forensic examination, which would help determine whether a weapon had been used, said Ms. Wright.

It was not clear who was responsible for the explosions on the flotilla near Malta on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately answer a request for a comment.

The Israeli military has blocked past attempts by Pro-Palestinian activists to help Gaza at sea, also by force. In 2010, nine passengers on board the Mavi Marmara, a flotilla that was moved by Turkey to Gaza, were killed in an Israeli command attack that triggered international outrage and deterioration in Turkish-Israeli relationships.

In the Freedom Flotillillillillillini Coalition, more than a dozen members, including IHH, has a Turkish auxiliary group, according to the group’s website. At least four of the nine people who were killed in 2010 were members of IHH, according to the findings of an Israeli investigation of the event. Ihh was a virulent critic of the blockade in the Gaza and the devastation caused by the military campaign of Israel in the territory.

Since the beginning of March, Israel has blocked the occurrence of humanitarian aid in Gaza strips after the end of a limited ceasefire and many people in Gaza Strip to fight access to food. Israeli civil servants said that the restrictions were trying to force Hamas to publish hostages from the militant group, but have declared members of the humanitarian community that the blockade is innocent civilians in the Erimmer.

According to the Maltese government and the Freedom Flotillillillillillini Coalition, 12 crew members and four civilian passengers were on board the ship.

Freedom Flotillillillillini coalition asked the international community to condemn the attack.

“Attack on international human rights activists in international waters is a war crime,” said Ms. Acar.

Jiawei Wang And Sanjana Varghese Reporting on this article contributed.