(CN) — International condemnation of Israel mounted on Friday after a humanitarian vessel carrying aid and activists heading to the besieged Gaza Strip was attacked by drones and disabled off the coast of Malta.
The attack on the Conscience, a vessel operated by pro-Palestinian activists and part of the so-called Freedom Flotilla Coalition, came on the same day that a week of hearings on Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip ended at the International Court of Justice.
Over the past week, nation after nation — though not the United States — spoke out against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
“The situation grows more desperate,” Ma Xinmin, China’s representative, told the court on Friday. “In Gaza and throughout the occupied territories, we are witnessing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis threatening to overwhelm an already suffering people.”
Wednesday saw Qatar’s representative, senior diplomat Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, lash out at Israel as he accused it of waging a “genocidal war” on Palestinians and weaponizing aid.
“It has continued its genocidal war against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza,” he said, as reported in court documents. He called genocide the “crime of crimes” which “shocks the conscience of mankind.”
For the past two months, Israel has imposed a blockade of humanitarian aid on the Gaza Strip, declaring it must do so to prevent the Palestinian militant group Hamas from stealing the aid.
On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that the ability of aid workers to help Gazans was “on the verge of total collapse.”
“Six weeks of intense hostilities, combined with a complete blockage of aid for two months, have left civilians without the essentials they need to survive,” the Red Cross said.
Since war broke out between Hamas and Israel following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, more than 52,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
The Conscience ship was preparing to sail toward Gaza in a bid to break Israel’s blockade when its crew said it was attacked by drones at about 12:23 a.m. on Friday.
The attack, which took place about 14 nautical miles off the coast of Malta in international waters, caused a large fire.
“Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull,” Freedom Flotilla said in a statement. The group blamed Israel.
The Conscience was crippled and at risk of sinking, though its crew were rescued and safe, according to Maltese officials. The vessel was preparing to pick up Swedish climate and pro-Palestinian activist Greta Thunberg and others in Malta before leaving for Gaza.
“Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters,” the group said.
Israeli officials did not comment on the incident.
In 2010, Israeli commandos attacked six humanitarian vessels, dubbed the “Gaza Freedom Flotilla,” as they approached Gaza with the aim of breaking a naval blockade imposed by Israel. The Israeli attack led to the deaths of nine activists and left about 30 others wounded. Family members of those killed in the 2010 attack were aboard the Conscience, according to activists with Freedom Flotilla.
On Friday, Amnesty International also issued a statement condemning Israel’s siege of Gaza.
“This is genocide in action,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, an Amnesty director of research and advocacy.
The group said it has collected testimonies that “reveal the catastrophic human cost of Israel’s two-month-long total siege, where starvation and denial of life-saving essentials are being used as weapons of war in flagrant violation of international law.”
This week, a panel of 12 judges at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the United Nations’ top court, heard from 40 countries and three organizations about Gaza. Nearly every diplomat and lawyer warned about the disaster taking place in the enclave.
The court’s judges are being called upon to draw up a so-called advisory opinion on Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians as an occupying power and a U.N. member.
Israel refused to take part in the proceedings and condemned the case as “part of the systematic persecution and delegitimization” of the country. It is unlikely to take heed of the court’s advisory opinion.
The ICJ case stems from laws passed by Israel’s parliament in October 2024 prohibiting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, better known as UNRWA, from operating in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel accused UNRWA staff of participating in the Oct. 7 attack, but it has failed to provide evidence for the allegation. American officials have supported Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA.
On Monday, a top Palestinian official Ammar Hijazi told judges that “all U.N.-supported bakeries in Gaza have been forced to shut their doors.”
“Nine of every 10 Palestinians have no access to safe drinking water. Storage facilities of the U.N. and other international agencies are empty,” Hijazi said. “These are the facts. Starvation is here. Humanitarian aid is being used as a weapon of war.”
As the hearings opened Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar blasted the court as illegitimate.
“It is not Israel that should be on trial. It is the U.N. and UNRWA,” he told reporters.
The U.N. estimates 500,000 Palestinians have been displaced since a two-month ceasefire ended in mid-March and Israel began blocking aid into Gaza, home to more than 2 million Palestinians.
Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.