An international activist flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza said Wednesday it was attacked for a second night in a row when a drone targeted one of its boats that was docked in Tunisian waters. No one was harmed.
The Global Sumud Flotilla shared CCTV footage showing people on board the group’s British-flagged Alma shouting “fire” and pointing to the sky. Projectiles on fire fell on the deck, exploding and setting off a blaze.
The Israeli navy had intercepted 13 of the flotilla’s boats as they approached the besieged Palestinian territory.
Jas Ikeda, 32, of Washington state, was among those in the flotilla, as Seattle-based journalist Guy Oron first reported. Their boat was among those that were intercepted.
Ikeda has documented their time at sea and the approach of the Israeli military in a series of videos on Instagram and Facebook. They were last seen on video wearing a life vest, in a post where they reported seeing “MANY UNIDENTIFIED VESSELS ON THE HORIZON. AGAIN, IF THEY BOARD IT IS ILLEGALLY. IF THEY TAKE US, THEY KIDNAP US AGAINST OUR WILL.”
“We are all prepared with our life jackets and with everyone on the deck, and (it is) going to be really safe and really calm,” Ikeda said in the video, posted at about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Gaza time. “We’ve done the drills many times, so I feel very confident that this will go well. If this is indeed the interception.”
Jenna Reed, a friend of Ikeda, last heard from them Wednesday morning. They’ve been at sea since late August, Reed said.
Reed met Ikeda through activism. She described Ikeda, an apprentice blacksmith, as a calm force.
“We’re taking the fear and adrenaline, and we’re just taking the next action we can,” Reed said.
Reed said Ikeda knew the risks going into the voyage but said it was worth it to help those in Gaza.
“I know that Jas is not afraid,” Reed said, “and that the risk is worth it to them to bring global attention back to Gaza and to attempt to break the siege and to bring humanitarian aid and to basically force a political crisis over this.”
The flotilla of around 20 boats is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and had planned a stop in Tunisia for other boats to join it.
The Israeli navy had reached out to the flotilla earlier Wednesday warning them that they were approaching an “active combat zone” and asking them to change course, the Israeli foreign ministry said, reiterating its offer to transfer the aid to Gaza through other channels. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the flotilla a provocation.
This flotilla was the largest attempt yet to break the Israeli maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip that has been ongoing for 18 years.