Tunisia denies Gaza flotilla allegations of 'drone attack'

The flotilla that set sail with activists and humanitarian aid for Gaza claimed early Tuesday that one of its ships was attacked by a drone near Tunisia, although that country ruled out the presence of unmanned aerial vehicles in the area.

More than a thousand people welcomed on Sunday in that North African country the group of about 20 boats that left earlier this month from Barcelona bound for the ravaged territory.

Progressive environmentalist Greta Thunberg is travelling on the flotilla, among other personalities such as Brazilian Thiago Avila. It aims to "open a humanitarian corridor and put an end to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people" in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas terrorists, according to its organizers.

Earlier Tuesday, the Global Sumud Flotilla claimed on Instagram that one of its ships was hit by a drone in Tunisian waters.

It shared a video from a surveillance camera installed on the boat, in which a buzzing sound can be heard. An activist is then seen looking up, shouting and backing away before an explosion is heard. A flash illuminates the area.

An AFP journalist who quickly arrived in the coastal town of Sidi Bou Said, near the Tunisian capital, could see the ship surrounded by other vessels. The fire that broke out had already been brought under control.

Hundreds of people flocked to the port of the town, located near the Carthage presidential palace, shouting, "Free Palestine, free Palestine."

The flotilla claimed that the six people on board were safe and sound, reported material damage and condemned "acts of aggression aimed at derailing [its] mission." However, the Tunisian National Guard told AFP that no drone had been detected following the flotilla's announcement.

"According to preliminary findings, a fire broke out in the life jackets on board," said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, spokesman for the Tunisian National Guard.

Reports pointing to the presence of a drone "are unfounded," the National Guard insisted in a statement posted on its official Facebook page, in which it put forward the hypothesis that the fire was due to a cigarette.

"Aggression"

Jebabli initially indicated that the boat was roughly 50 miles from the port of Sidi Bou Said.

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila posted a video on Instagram with the testimony of another member of the flotilla who claimed to have seen a drone. "It was undoubtedly a drone that dropped a bomb," said the man identified as Miguel.

The U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, who lives in Tunis and traveled overnight to the port, shared the video from the ship's surveillance camera on X.

"If it is confirmed that it is a drone attack, it would be ... an aggression against Tunisia and Tunisian sovereignty," Albanese told reporters earlier in Sidi Bou Said.