SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia — Tunisia’s interior ministry on Wednesday said a “premeditated aggression” attack a day earlier had hit a Gaza aid flotilla docked in the North African country.
Organizers of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists said late Tuesday that another of their boats had been struck in a suspected drone attack off Tunisia’s coast, the second in 24 hours.
The interior ministry said that it was launching an investigation into the incidents.
It marked the first acknowledgement by Tunisian authorities of the attack, after the national guard had earlier denied the presence of any drones.
“Second night, second drone attack,” Melanie Schweizer, one of the flotilla coordinators, told AFP on Tuesday.
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Aiming to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the flotilla was to resume its voyage on Wednesday, but was delayed yet again due to weather conditions.
???? BREAKING: A second assault on the Global Sumud Flotilla within just 48 hours—this time in Tunisian waters. Footage shows an unlit drone releasing an object that ignited the deck of the Alma boat. Experts believe it may have been an incendiary device coated with fuel-soaked… pic.twitter.com/dy7QRYS4Mx
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudFlot) September 10, 2025
“We will tell you what is the best time to sail according to the weather,” Brazilian activist Thiago Avila said Wednesday.
“Hopefully we will leave [Thursday] morning, that is what we expect,” he added.
Two nights, two fires
The British-flagged Alma was docked in Tunisian waters on Tuesday when it was “attacked” and “sustained fire damage on its top deck, the Global Sumud Flotilla said in a statement. It added that no one was hurt.
AFP journalists at the scene saw a boat in the distance surrounded by Tunisian law enforcement vessels with flashing lights.
The previous day, the activists said another of their boats was hit by a similar suspected UAV attack. But Tunisian authorities said at the time that “no drones” had been detected.
Both the Alma and Family were the motherships of the mission, providing support and provisions to smaller vessels and carrying the most high-profile members of the flotilla, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau.
A vessel of a civilian flotilla, carrying pro-Palestinian activists, remains moored at Barcelona port on September 1, 2025, after being forced to return there due to bad weather. (Lluis GENE / AFP)
Francesca Albanese, the staunchly anti-Israel UN rapporteur on the Palestinians, posted a video of the burning Alma and said it indicated a UAV attack.
“Video evidence suggests a drone — with no light so it could not be seen — dropped a device that set the deck of the Alma boat on fire,” she wrote on social media.
The flotilla arrived in Tunisia over the weekend and was anchored off the coast of Sidi Bou Said, north of Tunis, when it reported the first incident.
Some members of the flotilla said they saw the drone, adding that the boat’s bow caught fire immediately after.
‘Distract and derail’
Tunisian authorities had dismissed reports Tuesday of a drone strike on the vessel Family as “completely unfounded,” suggesting the fire may have been caused by a cigarette.
Tunisian national guard spokesman Houcem Eddine Jebabli told AFP “no drones have been detected.”
Security footage posted by the flotilla organizers showed a burning mass falling from a distance onto the ship.
Footage from another boat of our Flotilla shows the exact moment the Family Boat was struck from above. pic.twitter.com/qVpUyg56uP
— Global Sumud Flotilla (@GlobalSumudFlot) September 9, 2025
The activists did not explicitly ascribe blame to Israel for the suspected attacks in their statement, but said “they come during intensified Israeli aggression on Palestinians in Gaza, and an orchestrated attempt to distract and derail our mission.”
But, while providing no evidence, some activists blamed Israel.
“Israel has done this on other occasions, to send a drone to sabotage some of the flotilla’s boats. This has happened before,” Colau claimed Tuesday.
The Israeli military did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on Tuesday.
The United Nations declared famine last month in parts of Gaza, warning that 500,000 people face “catastrophic” conditions, in a report refuted by Israel.
Israel, supported by Egypt, has imposed a naval blockade on the coastal enclave since Hamas took control of Gaza in a bloody coup in 2007, saying it aims to stop weapons from reaching the terror group.
The blockade has remained in place through conflicts, including the current war, which began when Hamas led thousands of terrorists to invade southern Israel in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Demonstrators shout slogans on a boat ahead of the launch of a civilian flotilla bound for Gaza, aiming to break the Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid in Barcelona, Spain, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP/Emilio Morenatti)
Sumud means “resilience” in Arabic, and the flotilla describes itself as an independent group not linked to any government or political party.
Israel has not responded to the accusations of the latest two incidents off Tunisia. It has previously dismissed the flotillas as publicity stunts.
The flotilla is slated to attempt to arrive in Gaza later this month, although it is expected that it will be intercepted by the Israeli Navy. If that were to happen, its members would likely be deported within days.
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