Gaza aid flotilla targeted by drones and explosions, activists say

Organizers of the pro-Palestinian flotilla hoping to carry aid to Gaza said that Israel attacked them with "flash bombs, explosive flares, and suspected chemicals" as it approached the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"The Israeli occupation forces have launched at least 11 attacks on the Global Sumud Flotilla as it is 600 nautical miles [1,100 kilometres] from Gaza," the CODEPINK organization said in a social media post early on Wednesday.

"Israel is threatening and terrorizing humanitarians carrying aid in international waters. Demand safe passage for the flotilla. Break the siege on Gaza now," the group said, in comments also shared by the flotilla.

Global Sumud Flotilla published a video on its social media channels early on Wednesday showing what it said were "flashbangs... a non-lethal explosive device used mainly by police or military forces. It is designed to incapacitate people temporarily without causing permanent injury, making it useful in crowd control or hostage rescue operations."

The activists said that "explosive flares" and "suspected chemicals" were deployed against the boats as well as "unidentified drones and communications jamming."

"We are witnessing these psychological operations firsthand, right now, but we will not be intimidated," the flotilla said in a Telegram post.

Earlier, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, reposted one of the flotilla's videos on her X page.

"9th attack reported on humanitarian boats in int'l waters (southwest of Crete) - in the middle of the night! Et voilà: genocidaire on land, maritime outlaw at sea," she wrote in the social media thread.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which set off from Barcelona in late August with hundreds of activists on board, is aiming to breach the Israeli sea blockade of the Gaza coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the population of the war-torn territory. "Sumud" means steadfastness in Arabic.

Israel has in the past thwarted a number of attempts to breach its sea blockade. Most recently, activists said two Global Sumud Flotilla vessels were attacked while in Tunisian waters over about 24 hours earlier in September.