Organisers warn Israeli attack on flotilla 'imminent' as strikes on Gaza kill 22 people

Several governments have warned their citizens participating in a flotilla aimed at breaking the siege on Gaza could come under "imminent Israeli attack," the Global Sumud Flotilla confirmed early on Thursday, as Israel continued deadly strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Activists aboard the Libyan ship 'Omar al-Mukhtar' reported on Wednesday that three drones were flying overhead, seemingly conducting a "scan" of the vessel, as foreign navies sent warships to protect the flotilla.

The Global Sumud Flotilla blamed Israel for the more than a dozen explosions heard around its ships late on Tuesday off Greece, with damage caused by "unidentified objects" dropped on deck.

Organisers confirmed Thursday that the Omar al-Mukhtar continues to sail independently on its route to join the Global Freedom Flotilla sailing toward Gaza, stressing that they remain committed to continuing their course.

Both Italy and Spain said they were sending naval ships to support the flotillas, which have witnessed Israeli attacks before.

"We are concerned, so we will send a ship to ensure the rescue of our citizens and bring them back to Spain if necessary," Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said from New York.

Italy has previously told Israel not to harm its citizens aboard the flotilla.

Previous attempts to sail to Gaza to break the Israeli siege have been met with force. Israeli strikes damaged boats in Maltese waters in May, while suspected Israeli strikes hit boats earlier this month in Tunisian waters.

None of the incidents resulted in any casualties, but the apparent attacks were widely condemned, amid a continued Israeli siege on Gaza, which has prevented nearly all humanitarian aid from reaching the starving population.  

Activists taking part in a previous flotilla, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were also detained illegally in international waters by Israeli forces as they approached Gaza’s shores last June.

As part of the latest attempt, the Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try to break Israel’s naval blockade, with many lawyers and activists on board, including Thunberg.

Sumud is Arabic for Steadfastness or Resilience.

At least 22 killed in Gaza

Israeli military attacks have killed at least 22 Palestinians and injured dozens more in the Gaza Strip since the start of Thursday, said Gaza's civil defence agency.

The latest military offensive, which started in August, has focused on the northern part of the Palestinian territory, especially Gaza City, which the Israeli government aims to occupy while displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

A brutal military campaign has seen hundreds of thousands of Palestinians flee the city and move to the south of the enclave, worsening an already desperate humanitarian situation, with severe food and medical shortages and over 300 people dying of famine.

The Israeli military said Thursday that 700,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City to the south since late August, while the UN's humanitarian agency said that 388,400 displacement movements had been recorded since mid-August, most of them from Gaza City.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians are still trapped in the city, with many either refusing or unable to leave.

In the central Gaza Strip, 11 Palestinians – including children and women – were killed and nine others injured in an Israeli strike that targeted a home in the town of Al-Zawaida.

In Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Strip, Israeli warplanes killed four Palestinians, including two women, and injured 13 others in a strike on the home of the Al-Wadi family.

Another young man was killed in a separate strike targeting the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.

Fifteen people, including four children, were injured when a house was attacked in Gaza City’s eastern Tuffah neighbourhood.

Israeli drones also launched strikes at residential homes close to the Al-Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City, while shelling continued in western and northern areas of the city.

Palestinian media also reported that five people were killed in an Israeli artillery strike in the Al-Nafaq area in northern Gaza.

The nearly two-year war has killed more than 65,500 people in Gaza and wounded over 167,000 others, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The true death toll is believed to be much higher, with thousands of uncounted victims beneath the rubble, with much of the enclave being laid to waste. 

Israel's war on the territory is now widely acknowledged to be a genocide.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that another one of its troops had been killed after being targeted by a sniper in Gaza City a day earlier. The soldier, who was reportedly on guard duty at a military post, died after sustaining critical injuries.

It brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the war on 7 October 2023 to 912 - 466 of them during ground operations in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media. Another 2,918 soldiers have been injured in those operations, 554 of them critically.