‘A drone is circling over us!’: Greek Coast Guard drone flies over Greta Thunberg’s Gaza Flotilla
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
‘A drone is circling over us!’: Greek Coast Guard drone flies over Greta Thunberg’s Gaza Flotilla
The “Madleen” ship, sailing to the Gaza Strip as part of the international flotilla to break the blockade, broadcast a distress signal after spotting a drone flying over the ship on Tuesday night. It was later revealed that the drone was a “Heron” type belonging to the Greek Coast Guard, which left the area shortly thereafter. IDF spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin: “The IDF is prepared to operate on all fronts, including in the maritime arena”
The hysterical call for help was unnecessary because the drone belonged to the Greek Coast Guard.
Activists on the flotilla to the Gaza Strip, including the Swedish pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg and “Game of Thrones” star Liam Cunningham, called on the international community to protect them after they identified a drone hovering over the “Madleen” ship.
According to the organizers, the incident occurred about 68 kilometers outside Greece’s territorial waters, but it was later revealed that the drone was a “Heron” type belonging to the Greek Coast Guard, which left the area shortly thereafter. Advertisement
The “Madleen,” which departed on Sunday from Sicily, is carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, including baby formula, diapers, flour, rice, water filters, hygiene products, and medical equipment. Several human rights organizations organized the flotilla to break the maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF is preparing for the arrival of the ship. IDF spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said at a press conference, “The IDF is prepared to operate on all fronts, including in the maritime arena,” and added: “We will act accordingly.”
What did the organizers of the flotilla say?
The organizers of the flotilla emphasized that it is a non-violent civilian initiative: “Together, we can open a maritime corridor for the people of Gaza,” they said.
Who’s on board the Madleen Gaza flotilla, and where has it reached so far?
The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), is en route to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights activists. The vessel has set sail in response to Israel’s total aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2. The 2,000km (1,250-mile) journey is expected to take seven days, provided there are no disruptions. The Madleen departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1, just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another FFC aid ship, off the coast of Malta. Last month, another ship carrying aid to Gaza was hit by drones in international waters off Malta. The FFC has emphasised that all volunteers and crew on board Madleen are trained in nonviolence and are sailing unarmed in a peaceful act of civil resistance against Israel’s actions in Gaza. The latest location as of June 4, at 04:00 GMT, was some 600km (375 miles) from Sicily. The drone was later identified as a Hellenic Coastguard Heron, which has since departed.
The Madleen ship, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), is en route to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid and human rights activists protesting against Israel’s illegal blockade of the Strip.
The vessel has set sail in response to Israel’s total aid blockade of the Palestinian enclave since March 2, which has resulted in the deaths of dozens of children due to starvation. More than 90 percent of the enclave’s 2.3 million people are facing acute food shortages, according to aid groups.
The Madleen, named after Gaza’s first and only fisherwoman, departed Catania, Sicily, on June 1, just one month after Israeli drones bombed Conscience, another FFC aid ship, off the coast of Malta.
The 2,000km (1,250-mile) journey is expected to take seven days, provided there are no disruptions.
The ship’s location is being monitored live by Forensic Architecture and using a Garmin live tracker on board. The latest location as of June 4, at 04:00 GMT, was some 600km (375 miles) from Sicily.
The diagram below shows a live map of the flotilla’s current location:
Advertisement
Surveillance drone
Late on Tuesday night, a surveillance drone was seen hovering over the Madleen as it was approximately 68km (42 miles) outside Greek territorial waters.
The drone was later identified as a Hellenic Coastguard Heron, which has since departed.
Who is on board?
There are 12 activists on board the Madleen:
Greta Thunberg – Swedish climate activist
Rima Hassan – French-Palestinian Member of European Parliament
Yasemin Acar – Germany
Baptiste Andre – France
Thiago Avila – Brazil
Omar Faiad – France
Pascal Maurieras – France
Yanis Mhamdi – France
Suayb Ordu – Turkiye
Sergio Toribio – Spain
Marco van Rennes – The Netherlands
Reva Viard – France
Meet the 12 volunteers from around the world who are sailing on #Madleen in the #FreedomFlotillaCoalition’s steadfast mission to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza and establish a people’s sea corridor #AllEyesOnDeck #BreakTheSiege #endoccupation #Gaza pic.twitter.com/cimfieivTy — Freedom Flotilla Coalition (@GazaFFlotilla) June 2, 2025
We are doing this because no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying, because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity. by – Greta Thunberg
The FFC has emphasised that all volunteers and crew on board Madleen are trained in nonviolence and are sailing unarmed in a peaceful act of civil resistance against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Advertisement
What happened to previous flotillas?
Last month, another ship carrying aid to Gaza was hit by drones in international waters off Malta. The ship had been seeking to deliver aid following Israel’s genocidal blockade of the besieged enclave.
The FFC told Al Jazeera that the attack on the Conscience at 12:23pm local time (10:23 GMT) on May 2 blew a hole in the vessel and set the engine ablaze.
Fifteen years ago, Israeli commandos carried out a deadly attack on Mavi Marmara, the largest ship in an aid flotilla carrying Turkish activists.
The so-called Gaza Freedom Flotilla was carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid and had set out from Istanbul in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Nine humanitarian volunteers were killed on May 31, 2010.
Gaza has been under an Israeli land, sea and air blockade since 2007.
What aid is the ship carrying?
According to an FFC press release, the Madleen is carrying things urgently needed by people in Gaza, including medical supplies, flour, rice, baby formula, nappies, women’s sanitary products, water desalination kits, crutches and children’s prosthetics.
Gaza starvation
One in five Palestinians in Gaza is facing starvation because of Israel’s three-month-long total blockade of the Strip.
According to the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, 1.95 million people – 93 percent of the enclave’s population – are facing acute food shortages.
The IPC says Israel’s continued blockade “would likely result in further mass displacement within and across governorates”, as items essential for people’s survival will be depleted.
Despite an Israeli-led and United States-backed aid distribution organisation, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, being set up last month to deliver aid into Gaza, its new distribution hub disintegrated into chaos within hours of opening on May 27 and has been marred with even more controversy following deadly shootings at aid distribution centres.
Advertisement
Israel has been accused of luring Palestinians to these centres and killing more than 100 of them in the past eight days.
Israeli forces have killed more than 54,000 Palestinians since they launched their devastating offensive on October 7, 2023.
Aid ship bound for Gaza catches fire after alleged Israeli drone attack off Malta
A Gaza-bound activist aid ship caught fire and issued an SOS, after what its organizers claimed was an Israeli drone attack. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said activists were aboard its ship carrying humanitarian aid when the alleged attack happened. The group is yet to provide evidence that the drone was Israeli, while the Israeli military has declined to comment. The ship, the Conscience, was heading to Malta, where a large contingent of activists were due to board before it departed for Gaza, more than 1,000 miles away, but had not made it into port, the group said. The Armed Forces of Malta confirmed there was a fire on a ship that was later extinguished, adding that there were no injuries onboard. But the FFC said the flotilla was still trying to enter Maltese territorial waters, but was being prevented by the coast guard. It urged the Maltese government to provide safe passage for the boat, citing the risk of a new attack on the ship, which is currently at anchor in international waters.
A Gaza-bound activist aid ship caught fire and issued an SOS, after what its organizers claimed was an Israeli drone attack off the coast of Malta in international waters in the early hours of Friday.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), which is campaigning to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza, told CNN activists were aboard its ship carrying humanitarian aid when the alleged attack happened just after midnight local time (6 p.m. ET Thursday).
The group is yet to provide evidence that the drone was Israeli, while the Israeli military has declined to comment on the alleged attack.
“There is a hole in the vessel right now and the ship is sinking,” Yasemin Acar, the coalition’s press officer, told CNN by phone from Malta on Friday morning.
Malta’s government said the 68-foot-long ship was carrying 16 people – 12 crew members and four civilian passengers. But FFC earlier gave CNN a higher figure of 30 people on board the vessel.
The Armed Forces of Malta confirmed there was a fire on a ship that was later extinguished. “We are monitoring the situation closely,” a spokesperson told CNN, adding that there were no injuries onboard.
In a later statement, Malta’s government said a tug boat had been sent to assist the vessel.
“All crew were confirmed safe but refused to board the tug. Assistance was provided to support interior firefighting efforts,” the Maltese government statement said.
The ship, the Conscience, was heading to Malta, where a large contingent of activists were due to board before it departed for Gaza, more than 1,000 miles away, but had not made it into port, the group said.
FFC told CNN that climate activist Greta Thunberg and retired US Army Colonel Mary Ann Wright were among those who were expected to board the vessel in Malta, but were not onboard at the time of the fire.
“Volunteers from over 21 countries traveled to Malta to board the mission to Gaza, including prominent figures,” FFC said in a statement.
Thiago Avila, the flotilla’s lead organizer, told CNN that he and other activists took a boat out to the flotilla to try and provide assistance to their colleagues late Friday afternoon, but Maltese sea guards surrounding the vessel prevented them from getting near it.
“We will try to go back again tomorrow morning,” Avila said.
When asked by CNN for comment, the Maritime Squadron of the Armed Forces of Malta said the vessel and the crew are secure, and that the ship remains outside territorial waters and is being monitored by authorities.
Late Friday, the FFC said the flotilla was still trying to enter Maltese territorial waters, but was being prevented by the coast guard. It urged the Maltese government to provide safe passage for the boat, citing the risk of a new attack.
‘Craziest thing in the world’
Speaking to Reuters from Malta, Thunberg said she was part of the group that was supposed to board the boat and “continue the voyage towards Gaza, which is one of many attempts to open up a humanitarian corridor and to do our part to keep trying to break Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza,” adding that “for two months now, not a single bottle of water has entered Gaza, and it’s a systematic starvation of 2 million people.”
The activist said that the ship is currently at anchor, as moving it risks water flooding in. “If it were to move, too much water would come in, and it would sink,” she said.
“What is certain is that we human rights activists will continue to do everything in our power to do our part.”
Speaking to CNN from Malta, Wright said activists “were ready to get on the boat. Anyone could have been on the boat,” adding that there are currently Turkish and Azerbaijan citizens on the ship.
“We didn’t even think that this would happen. It’s the craziest thing in the world. The ship was in an anchor there, waiting for us to come. Who would send drones to bomb a ship that is anchoring off Malta?” Wright said, adding that “this should be a warning to all European countries.”
Photos shared with CNN showed damage on the ship’s deck. Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association
More damage is seen on the deck after the alleged drone attack. Mavi Marmara Freedom and Solidarity Association
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition describes itself on its website as an international network of pro-Palestinian activists working to end Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave by taking direct, non-violent action.
Gaza has been under Israeli military siege since the October 7, 2023, Hamas deadly attacks on Israel.
Israel imposed a full humanitarian blockade of Gaza on March 2, cutting off food, medical supplies, and other aid to the more than 2 million Palestinians who live in the territory.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said this week its warehouses are now empty; soup kitchens that are still running are severely rationing their last stocks; and what little food remains in Gaza’s markets is being sold for exorbitant prices that most cannot afford.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, said on X that she “received a distressed call from the people of the Freedom Flotilla that is carrying essential food and medicine to the starving Gaza population.”
“I call on concerned state authorities, including maritime authorities, to support the ship and its crew as needed. I trust the competent authorities will also ascertain the facts and intervene appropriately,” she said.
Loud explosions
FFC said it had been operating under a media blackout over the mission because it wanted to avoid potential sabotage.
“Our vessel is 17 kilometers off the shores of Malta right now in international waters, and they have been subjected to a drone attack twice,” said Acar, adding that the generators at the front of the vessel were the apparent target.
The group pointed the finger of blame at Israel, without providing evidence. “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,” FFC said in its statement.
A tug boat assists Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessel Conscience off the coast of Malta. Government of Malta
An Israeli Air Force C-130 Hercules was picked up leaving Israel early Thursday afternoon and flying to Malta, according to flight-tracking website ADS-B Exchange. The Hercules did not land at Malta’s international airport, the data shows, but the cargo aircraft did fly at a relatively low altitude – below 5,000 feet – over eastern Malta for an extended period of time. The Hercules flew over several hours before the Freedom Flotilla Coalition says their vessel came under attack. The plane returned to Israel about seven hours later, flight-tracking data shows.
The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the flight-tracking data.
In 2010, Israel attacked a flotilla in international waters and carrying humanitarian supplies for Gaza, killing nine people and sparking outrage around the world. A tenth person died of wounds sustained in the attack in 2014, after spending four years in a coma.
Video the coalition posted on its X account appeared to show a fire burning on a ship, as well as smoke. The sound of two loud explosions can also be heard in a separate video clip. CNN is unable to independently verify the videos.
Footage shared on social media and verified by FCC activists shows passengers on the boat walking through smoke that appeared to have filled the inside of the vessel. Photos onboard the ship also show large holes in the structure, much of which is charred and covered in soot.
Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member, told CNN that the photos are consistent with two smaller blast munitions being used.