A ship bound for Gaza carrying humanitarian aid with activists onboard was bombed by drones in international waters off Malta on Friday, its organisers said, alleging that Israel was to blame.
Surya McEwen was preparing to join the Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship, saying it was attacked just hours before he was due to board.
The group published footage on Friday showing a fire on one of its ships. It showed lights in the sky in front of the ship, and the sound of explosions could be heard.
"It was shocking to all of us," the Australian told SBS News.
"We've had that feeling of being shocked by the atrocities that are happening over and over and over again for the last couple of years, so maybe we shouldn't have been so shocked."
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has shown solidarity with the people of Gaza for over 15 years. The first flotilla set sail in August 2008, with 44 individuals from 17 countries travelling from Cyprus to Gaza on two small wooden boats.
Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, and nine activists died. Other ships have similarly been stopped and boarded, without loss of life.
Four Australians almost boarded
"At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship, came under direct attack in international waters," the group said in a statement.
"Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull ... The drone strike appears to have deliberately targeted the ship's generator, leaving the crew without power and placing the vessel at great risk of sinking."
It has been reported that four Australians had been planning to board the ship in Malta.
In a statement to SBS News on Friday, a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said: "The Australian government is aware of an incident in international waters near Malta. The department is not aware of any Australians affected by the event."
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg told the Reuters news agency she was in Malta and had also been supposed to board the ship as part of Freedom Flotilla's planned action.
Demands for safe passage to the ship
The Maltese government said in a statement on Friday that everyone aboard the flotilla had been "confirmed safe".
"The vessel had 12 crew members on board and four civilian passengers; no casualties were reported," they said.
Freedom Flotilla organisers said there had been 30 people on board.
According to McEwen on Friday they intended to go to to ship to asses the damage, but "the Maltese military intervened and we weren't able to, to get onto the ship".
"We're definitely encouraging people to be calling Maltese ambassadors and high commissions globally, and demanding that not only do they do a full investigation into the war crimes that have happened just outside their borders on the coast here, but also to demand that they enable us safe passage to the ship," he said.
The group has blamed Israel or its allies for the incident, saying "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".
As of the publication of this story, the Israeli government has not accepted responsibility for the attack and has not commented on the allegations made by the FFC.
However, AFP has reported that Cyprus' rescue agency said it had been informed by the island's foreign ministry of an Israeli drone strike.
Türkiye's foreign minister said Turkish nationals were on board the ship at the time of the incident and it was working with Maltese authorities to transfer them to a safe location.
"We condemn in the strongest terms this attack on a civilian ship," it said, noting there were "allegations that the ship was targeted by Israeli drones".
This is 'a war crime'
In a social media post, Yasemin Acar, FFC's press officer, called the attack a "war crime".
"They have attacked a vessel that carries peaceful activists who are on their way to break a total blockade — no water, no food, no humanitarian [aid] has reached the Palestinians in Gaza right now," she said
"We've been working day and night to make this happen, every time we are faced with attacks ... These are war crimes not just against the Palestinians but also [against] the international community who are trying to help."
Since early March, Israel has completely cut off all supplies to the 2.3 million residents of the enclave, and food stockpiled during a ceasefire at the start of the year has all but run out, according to international aid agencies.
McEwen said that he fears something more than the attacks themselves.
"It's a historic situation that's happening right now, and there's a feeling that maybe there's a possibility of hope that can be created by a coalition like this doing a mission like this," he said.
"I feel like as a human, if you're in a situation where you can push history in the right direction, even slightly, then that's an honour and a privilege and maybe even a duty to do that.
"I think I'm more afraid of not following through with that than I am of the dangers."
With additional reporting by the Reuters and Agence France-Press news agencies.
