In a video posted by activist Yasmin Akar, she said: “We identified the first drones. From what we see, above every boat in the flotilla there is now a drone.” Akar, who was filmed in October celebrating Iran’s missile strike on Israel, added that the sightings occurred when the flotilla was about 170 kilometers (105 miles) from the island of Mallorca.
Panic in Greta’s flotilla to Gaza: ‘There’s a drone above every ship, maybe it’s the Zionists’
(Video: Instagram)
Another clip posted on Instagram showed panic aboard one of the vessels, with a participant asking Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg: “Greta, is there anything above us?” Thunberg has shifted much of her campaigning to anti-Israel causes since the Gaza war began and joined a similar flotilla in June.
During that June attempt, activists accused Israel of using drones to drop a type of tear gas before Israeli naval commandos from Shayetet 13 boarded their ship. In May, another group claimed their vessel had been attacked and disabled by drones near Malta.
In Wednesday’s video, one activist sought to calm fellow participants: “Let’s have a quick talk about this. In all of our missions, there are drones. There are several risk levels concerning them. When drones are above us, we need to identify whether they are for intelligence gathering or attack. Intelligence drones include Heron models and others — large ones — and they can belong to Frontex [the EU border agency], the Spanish Coast Guard, NATO, or the Zionists. But they don’t cause harm. Attack drones are usually quadcopters.”
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Panic in Gaza flotilla as drones spotted overhead
(Photo: Instagram)
Israel is expected, as in previous flotillas, to move to prevent the convoy from reaching Gaza. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Tuesday urged authorities to jail participants “under terrorist conditions” to deter future attempts.
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The Sumud flotilla started out on Sunday with Greta Thunberg aboard
(Photos: Emilio Morenatti/AP, Nacho Doce/Reuters)
According to the activists, participants from 44 countries are involved. Organizers promised this would be the largest flotilla to date. The French news agency AFP reported that, alongside Thunberg, participants include Irish actor Liam Cunningham, Spanish actor Eduard Fernández, and European politicians, among them former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
The vessels are carrying humanitarian aid, though largely symbolic, with organizers saying the flotilla’s main purpose is to increase diplomatic pressure on Israel.