Gaza Aid Flotilla Says It Will Still Sail, Despite Repeat Drone Attacks
‘We didn’t start sailing because we thought it was safe, we started sailing because we thought it was needed.’
by Charlotte England
10 September 2025
Organisers say the flotilla of boats attempting to open a humanitarian aid corridor to Gaza will still set sail as soon as possible, despite drone attacks on Monday and Tuesday night that caused minor damage to two vessels.
“The Global Sumud Flotilla [GSF] remains resolute and undeterred,” the steering committee said in a statement on Tuesday, following an attack on Monday night. “We are preparing to depart from Tunis, pending final mechanical checks, weather assessments, and participant readiness. Our mission is clear: to expose Israel’s unfolding ethnic cleansing and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
After a second drone attack on Tuesday night, the committee reiterated that it was undeterred.
Close to midnight on Monday night, CCTV footage shows a flaming projectile falling from the sky and hitting the forward deck of the lead ship, Family, which had been carrying Greta Thunberg, key organisers Thiago Ávila and Yasemin Acar, and Novara Media’s Kieran Andrieu.
A witness on board, Miguel Duarte, was on night watch at the time and told Novara Media he saw a drone hovering three or four metres above his head. It moved slowly to the forward deck, he said, and dropped “what was clearly a bomb of some kind”.
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Duarte described seeing flames “everywhere in the forward deck, even going beyond the railing of the ship”, but said that within a few minutes, the six people on board were able to control it and to put it out with fire extinguishers, resulting in only superficial damage to the ship and no serious injuries. Three other people on board corroborated Duarte’s story to Novara Media.
Thunberg, Ávila, Acar and Andrieu were all in the Tunisian capital of Tunis at the time, having gone ashore for a brief stop while the flotilla regrouped.
Tunisian authorities have claimed the fire was started by a cigarette butt – a story the BBC initially repeated as fact, despite several videos showing a fiery projectile hitting the boat.
At around 11:15pm on Tuesday night, people on a second flotilla ship, Alma, which was anchored near to Family just outside Sidi Bou Said port in Tunis, reported a similar attack. The fire was quickly extinguished and appears to have caused little visible damage to the ship. The nine people on board, which included Irish comedian and occasional Novara Live co-host Tadhg Hickey, are all uninjured.
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The flotilla was due to sail again on Wednesday, 10 September, with at least 10 more boats joining it in Tunis, and others from Italy and Greece expected to meet them at sea. It is unclear whether they will be ready to leave on schedule.
Ávila, who is part of the GSF steering committee, told a press conference in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday morning that far from being intimidated by the attack, those taking part had only become more determined.
“What happened last night just shows the world who [we are] dealing with,” he said. “We know this is a high-risk mission. But it’s nothing compared to the risk that the Palestinian people go through every single day in Gaza. So not only will we continue our mission – we will keep on going – but … thousands and thousands of people are now volunteering again to join.”
Ávila’s statements seem to bear out on the ground. Novara Media was at the port in the early hours of Tuesday morning, immediately after the first attack happened, and spoke to several flotilla crew members there. All said they intended to continue to Gaza regardless, and several reportedly stayed on board their boats, which were anchored near to Family, in the aftermath of the attack.
Duarte told Novara Media: “I am determined. I think this sort of action [the drone attack] backfires to a certain extent … The movement for Palestine has never been this big. We’re witnessing a historic moment, and any attack on the Palestinian people and the people who stand in solidarity with them will only increase the movement.
“As far as I could see, the damage is only superficial, and so the plan is to stick with the mission. We didn’t start sailing because we thought it was safe; we started sailing because we thought it was needed. If this shows us anything, it only shows us that it’s more needed.”
Speaking at the port in the early hours of Tuesday morning, Andrieu said: “Clearly, this was an attempt to intimidate us. It wasn’t coincidental or by accident. It won’t work.”
But there will be some changes to those participating from Tunis, including some dropouts, and there is expected to be a reassignment of boats as organisers rethink their political and media strategy, and scramble to solve logistical challenges.
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In a heated speech, Portuguese politician Mariana Mortagua, who was also on board Family from Barcelona to Tunis, pointed out that the boat is travelling under a Portuguese flag and called on the Portuguese government to act.
“Genocide is against the law. Occupation is against the law. Starving children to death is against the law. Humanitarian siege is against the law. One state is not complying with international law, and that state is Israel, so we demand all our governments, the European Union and the European Commission take a stand to protect the people of Palestine, to protect this mission,” she said. “But even if you don’t do it, we will go on,” she added. “All eyes on Gaza.”
United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, was one of the first on the scene at the port on Monday night. She was quick to condemn the attack in an interview with Novara Media, asking of Israel’s ever-increasing impunity: “When will it end?” Speaking to flotilla participants on Tuesday, she was more reflective, reminding them to show “restraint”.
“It’s been a very tense night for all of you,” she said. “Every step will impact others around you and ultimately the Palestinians … I just hope that the tension of yesterday [Monday] night will not delay your mission and will not alter your determination to go, and you will sail in the spirit of global sumud.”
In any case, Albanese added, “If you don’t succeed, it’s just a matter of time. If it’s not tomorrow, it’s the day after tomorrow. And I will always be behind you.”
Charlotte England is a director and deputy head of articles at Novara Media.
