Italy urges Gaza flotilla to hand over aid after drone attack

By Angeliki Koutantou and Alvise Armellini

ATHENS/ROME (Reuters) -Italy urged an international flotilla to hand over its aid supplies for Gaza on Wednesday and allow them to be distributed by the local Catholic Church, as a way to ward off further risks after the flotilla was attacked by drones overnight.

The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Many lawyers and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, are on board.

Italy sent a navy ship to the flotilla's assistance after the vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 30 nautical miles (56 km) off the Greek island of Gavdos. All passengers were safe after drones exploded over the vessels, said Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome's proposal was to hand over the aid in Cyprus to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would then deliver it.

"It is a proposal that seems to have the support of the Cypriot government, the Israeli government and, of course, the Italian government. We are awaiting a response from the flotilla," Meloni told reporters in New York where she is attending the U.N. General Assembly. 

Meloni urged the flotilla to accept the plan and criticized its aid initiative, calling it "gratuitous, dangerous and irresponsible".

GSF said the attack affected 11 vessels and blamed Israel and its allies for "explosions, unidentified drones and communications jamming," saying it would not be intimidated and would continue to sail.

ITALIAN NAVY SHIP MOBILISED

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto strongly condemned the incident and said in a statement the sea convoy had been targeted by "currently unidentified perpetrators".

He ordered the Italian multi-purpose frigate Fasan, previously sailing north of Crete, to head towards the flotilla for possible rescue operations, focusing primarily on Italian citizens.

The GSF called on other nations to "ensure and facilitate effective protection, including maritime escort, accredited diplomatic observers, and an overt protective State presence. Italy has now taken a first step in this direction."

Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla, accusing its activists of complicity with the Hamas militant group.

On Wednesday, the Israeli foreign ministry repeated an invitation for the flotilla to drop humanitarian aid in an Israeli port, leaving it to Israeli authorities to take it to Gaza, or else face consequences.

"Israel will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone and will not allow any breach of the lawful naval blockade," a ministry statement said.

It made no comment on whether it was responsible for the drones.

Earlier this month, the flotilla blamed Israel for other drone strikes on its boats while they were moored in a Tunisian port. Israel did not respond to those accusations.

STUN GRENADES AND ABBA MUSIC

The drones came in the middle of the night dropping stun grenades and itching powder, damaging the sails of some boats, according to two leftist Italian members of the European Parliament aboard the flotilla.

Before the attack, onboard radios started playing "very loud ABBA music," Annalisa Corrado of the Democratic Party said in a video message. "We thought it was a joke, but no, it was the first act of intimidation, to tell us they were close enough to get into our radio systems."

The attack lasted around three hours until 4 a.m. (0100 GMT), Benedetta Scuderi of the Greens-European Free Alliance group told Italian public radio RAI.

A Greek coastguard official told Reuters that members of the flotilla contacted them around 2 a.m. (2300 GMT) to inform them of the incident. When approached by the European Union's border agency Frontex, however, the flotilla said it did not require assistance, the official added.

In Brussels, a European Commission spokeswoman said any use of force against the flotilla was not acceptable, adding that "we totally understand" the activists' desire to raise awareness about the situation in Gaza.  

Israel launched the nearly two-year-old war in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, attacks on the country by Hamas militants which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, the conflict has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and has spread famine, destroyed most buildings, and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou in Athens and Alvise Armellini in Rome; Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, Renee Maltezou, Crispian Balmer, Angelo Amante, Anna Uras, May Angel; Editing by Edward McAllister, Alexandra Hudson and Nia Williams)