Handala aid boat resumes Gaza mission after communications blackout

The Handala aid ship, which is carrying food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli starvation siege, has resumed its mission following a brief two-hour communications blackout.

During the blackout, drones were seen observing near the ship, raising fears of a possible attack.

"Connection has now been re-established. 'Handala' is continuing its mission and is currently less than 349 nautical miles from Gaza," The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) announced on Telegram.

"Please keep your eyes on 'Handala' and on Palestine, and continue pressuring your governments and media to break the illegal siege on Gaza and allow 'Handala' to deliver the aid we carry," it added.

The aid ship is now less than 349 nautical miles (646 kilometres) from Gaza.

The FFC revealed earlier on Thursday night it had lost all contact with its crew, suspecting they could have been intercepted or attacked.

Tan Safi, a journalist on board the Handala, said in a video that the crew was unaware of a global outage affecting Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service, which may have been the cause of the blackout.

"Some experts are investigating it and said this was unusual," Safi noted. "It's not the first time Elon has worked with Israel, but this was most likely a global disruption."

he Handala set sail on 20 July from Sicily in Italy, following a delay over technical difficulties, carrying activists, medics, lawyers, journalists and humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza as Israel continues to impose an aid blockade on the Strip.

Just hours before the ship was set to depart, the FCC revealed the boat was possibly sabotaged in two "dangerous incidents" believed to have been "deliberate attempts to derail" the aid mission.

A rope was found tightly wrapped around the boat's propeller, and a delivery of what was meant to be fresh water turned out to be sulfuric acid, causing injury to some crew members.

The communication blackout follows many incidents with previous Gaza-bound aid ships. The MV Conscience ship was attacked by drones near Malta, causing fire and structural damage on 2 May.

On June 8, the Madleen ship was intercepted by the Israeli army just off the coast of Gaza, and the activists on board were detaining and deporting the activists on board.

Amid its brutal war on Gaza, Israel is continuing to impose a siege which has led to mass starvation and malnutrition amongst Palestinians.

Almost 900,000 Gazan children are experiencing hunger, with 70,000 having reached clinical malnutrition.

Aid agencies are warning of a sharp rise in malnutrition among children under the age of five and malnutrition rates doubled between March and June as Israel prevented aid from entering the Gaza Strip.

Gaza's Health Ministry has said that at least 115 Palestinians have starved to death in the enclave since October 2023, while nearly 60,000 people have been killed as a result of Israel's war.

The true death toll is believed to be much higher because thousands of uncounted victims are buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings.