On the afternoon of May 1, according to open-source aircraft tracking, a C-130 Hercules heavy military transport took off from an airbase in Israel.
The Hercules flew more than 1,200 miles west into the central Mediterranean, over Malta, and apparently did not land before returning home many hours later.
Below, the passenger vessel Conscience was carrying food and medicine for Gaza. It was making this mission some twenty months and at least fifty thousand deaths into what numerous international agencies now term a genocide.
For two months already, there has been a full-scale Israeli blockade to such aid. The assistance borne by the small ship was a drop in the ocean of what people need. But organizers hoped that a successful landing would force open an aid corridor.
Instead, fourteen miles off Malta on May Day night, at least two explosions rocked the bow, igniting fuel in the ship’s backup generators. The ship was at risk of sinking.
The crew say they came under attack from multiple suicide drones, which tore a gash in the hull and risked sinking the ship.
Fortunately no one was injured. But the ship was forced to a halt, and the delivery of its aid stymied.
On shore, dozens of volunteers — including climate activist Greta Thunberg — were waiting to join the mission when the ship docked. They had trained for a range of scenarios and had prepared their wills in case the worst happened. Instead, they were unable to embark.
The Israeli military has neither taken credit for nor denied the attack. The impartial UK Defence Journal speculates that if attack drones were deployed from a C-130, it would mark an evolution in how warfare is conducted.
One can only imagine the white heat of outrage if there was any suggestion that such an…
Auteur: Nathan Akehurst
