Activists say Gaza aid boat set to test Israel's blockade attacked by drone in Tunisia
The activist group sending a flotilla of aid boats to try to reach Gaza — Global Sumud Flotilla — said Tuesday that one of its vessels was attacked by a drone overnight while docked in Tunisia. The group said all six passengers who had been traveling on the boat were safe. The Associated Press reported the flotilla's most famous members, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, had been traveling on the boat, though it was unclear who was on board at the time of the alleged strike.
Thunberg was part of a separate Gaza flotilla that was stopped by Israeli forces earlier this year, too.
The Global Sumud Flotilla shared what it said was security camera video of the attack, which appears to show a ball of flames dropping from above and hitting the boat.
"Last night, I was on the deck on the back part of the ship and I heard a drone," Miguel Duarte, a Portuguese citizen, said at a news conference hosted by the group on Tuesday. "I came out of the cover of the deck to see a drone hovering about three or four meters (yards) above my head, called my fellow crew members, two of us stood there with the drone above our head, then we saw the drone move to the forward part of the deck. It stood a few seconds on top of a bunch of life jackets, and then dropped a bomb."
Duarte said the "bomb exploded, there was a big flame, a fire on board immediately. We picked up fire extinguishers, fought the fire successfully, and everyone was safe, fortunately."
Tunisia's National Guard initially denied that a drone strike had occurred, saying that, "according to initial inspections, the fire was caused by flames breaking out in one of the life jackets aboard the ship, due to a lighter or a cigarette butt. There is no evidence of any hostile act or external targeting."
Tunisia's Interior Ministry also initially said the "claims about a drone falling on one of the ships docked at the Port of Sidi Bou Said are unfounded."
The ministry said "specialized security units inspected the traces of a fire that broke out on one of the life jackets, which was quickly brought under control, causing no human or material damage, except for the burning of a number of these life jackets."
However, a spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla later told CBS News that the Tunisian authority's statements had been published before they saw the group's video. The spokesperson said that based on that video, the Tunisian authorities had decided to create a special committee to investigate the incident.
"We appreciate the effort that they are making to investigate, and we are waiting pending the final outcome," the flotilla spokesperson told CBS News.
Tunisia's Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment on an investigation.
Israel maintains a blockade of Gaza, including its maritime border in the Mediterranean, so the flotilla would not have permission to dock there.
Israeli forces have previously boarded and seized vessels taking part in activist flotillas to prevent them from breaching its blockade, including in a raid on a boat in 2010 that left at least nine activists dead.
Israel has dismissed the flotillas as publicity stunts, and says its maritime blockade is necessary to prevent weapons and other materials being smuggled into the war-torn Palestinian territory, which has long been ruled by the U.S.- and Israeli-designated terrorist group Hamas.
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment on the incident in Tunisia.
The Global Sumud Flotilla, which hopes to transport humanitarian aid materials to Gaza and create publicity of the dire humanitarian situation there, set off from Spain just over a week ago.