Italy urged an activist flotilla to hand over whatever aid supplies it had for Gaza on Wednesday and allow them to be distributed by the local Catholic Church, after the flotilla was allegedly, "attacked by drones overnight."
The" Global Sumud Flotilla" is using about 50 civilian boats to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, with many activist influencers onboard, including controversial Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg.
Italy sent a navy ship to the flotilla's assistance after the vessels were allegedly attacked by 12 drones in international waters 56 kilometres 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 UN General Assembly.
Meloni urged the flotilla to accept the plan and criticised 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. The allegations have not been independently verified.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in a statement the sea convoy had been targeted by "currently unidentified perpetrators". He expressed the "strongest condemnation" of the incident.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and details remain unclear, raising questions about the authenticity of the flotilla's claims.
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 (with) 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 terrorist group.
On Wednesday, the 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, despite local authorities saying that the allegations had "no basis in truth". Israel did not respond to those accusations.
The “drones” came in the middle of the night dropping “stun grenades and itching powder,” damaging the sails of some boats, according to possibly exaggerated accounts by two leftist Italian members of the European Parliament aboard the flotilla.
Before the alleged 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 allegedly lasted around three hours until 04:00 local time (01:00 GMT), Benedetta Scuderi of the Greens-European Free Alliance group told Italian public radio RAI.
A Greek Coast Guard official told Reuters that members of the flotilla contacted them around 02:00 (23:00 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.
Israel launched the nearly two-year war in Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 attacks on the country by Hamas terrorists which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
(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)