Last night, a humanitarian ship on a mission to deliver aid to the starving people of Gaza was attacked by two drones near Maltese territorial waters. Just hours before the attack, the vessel had been de-flagged by the Republic of Palau — a move that suggests this was a planned assault by powerful actors.
This violent act, occurring so close to Malta’s shores, is deeply alarming. It is a clear sign of the State of Israel’s growing sense of impunity and its continued disregard for international law and human life – now striking very close to home. The Maltese Government’s silence in the face of such a serious incident, that is widely seen as an attack on Europe, is incomprehensible and unacceptable.
The Maltese authorities must act immediately to bring ashore the ship and the civilians now stranded at sea following this criminal attack. The government should also grant the vessel a Maltese flag as a sign of support for humanitarian efforts and international law.
Furthermore, Malta must open an investigation into this drone attack and clarify whether Maltese airspace was used to target a civilian humanitarian ship and if its sovereignty has been violated.
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Attakk fuq Flotilla ta’ Gaża Qrib Malta – Il-Gvern Malti Jeħtieġ Jieħu Azzjoni Mingħajr Iktar Dewmien
Il-lejl li għadda, vapur umanitarju fuq missjoni biex iwassal għajnuna lin-nies li qegħdin imutu bil-ġuħ f’Gaża, ġie attakkat minn żewġ drones qrib l-ibħra territorjali Maltin. Ftit sigħat biss qabel l-attakk, il-vapur itteħditlu l-bandiera mir-Repubblika tal-Palau – mossa li tissuġġerixxi li dan kien attakk ippjanat minn entitajiet b’saħħithom.
Dan l-att vjolenti, li seħħ tant qrib ix-xtut ta’ Malta, huwa allarmanti ferm. Huwa sinjal ċar tal-impunità tal-Istat tal-Iżrael u n-nuqqas ta’ rispett kontinwu li dejjem wera kemm lejn il-liġi internazzjonali kif ukoll lejn il-ħajja umana – din id-darba qrib ħafna tagħna.
Is-silenzju tal-Gvern Malti fil-konfront ta’ inċident daqstant serju li qiegħed jiġi meqjus minn ħafna bħala attakk fuq l-Ewropa huwa inaċċettabbli u inkomprensibbli.
L-awtoritajiet Maltin jeħtieġ li jaġixxu immedjatament biex wara dan l-attakk kriminali idaħħlu l-vapur u l-persuni ċivili li hemm fuqu f’nofs ta’ baħar lejn ix-xtut Maltin. Il-Gvern Malti missu anki joffri l-bandiera Maltija lil dan il-vapur b’turija ta’ appoġġ għal inizjattivi umanitarji u l-liġi internazzjonali.
Barra minn dan, Malta għandha tiftaħ investigazzjoni dwar dan l-attakk bid-drone biex tistabbilixxi jekk l-ispazju tal-ajru Malti ġiex użat biex isir l-attakk fuq vapur ċivili umanitarju u jekk is-sovranità tagħha ġietx miksura.
