Pro-Palestinian activists trying to break Israel's humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza are negotiating with the Maltese government to allow their ship to dock for repairs, after an alleged Israeli drone attack last week.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) says its humanitarian ship Conscience was hit in the early hours of Friday morning and now needs urgent repairs to continue its journey onwards to the war-ravaged strip.
Maltese search and rescue personnel were dispatched to help the ship, just outside of the Mediterranean nation's territorial waters, after it sent a distress signal following the strike.
The FFC had accused Maltese authorities of refusing access to a port for repairs, but suggested those negotiations were ongoing on Sunday afternoon.
"The boat needs to get into Malta, it needs to be safe, it needs to have assistance, and it needs a guarantee for the boat to return to international waters and continue its mission after the repairs," Brazilian activist Thiago Avila told a press conference in Malta.
"If it's not inside Malta, the boat needs to be secured because we're not safe, not rid of the possibility that there could be a new attack on this boat.
"It's a miracle no-one died in this attack."
Malta's prime minister said his government needed confirmation the Conscience was only carrying humanitarian aid, and that a surveyor was being prevented from boarding the ship to assess the situation before it was allowed to dock.
"We are still in the window of 72 hours of a horrific attack, a non-provoked attack against a civilian vessel part of a humanitarian mission … there is a bit of confusion, a bit of difficulty to get the precise information of everything," Thiago Avila said.
"The situation with the surveyor, and the situation with a coast guard, was that until we got a clear message from the Maltese government that they wanted to be part of the assistance and of the solution of the situation, we had our concerns and that's why we didn't accept him to join the first moment.
"It was not that he was being refused, it was just that we wanted an assurance from the government of Malta that once the survey was done and they had fulfilled the step, the boat will be able to go into Malta to have the proper repair and the guarantee of safe return to international waters to continue the mission."
He said the Maltese government had now given that indication, and the surveyor would be allowed on board.
Israel blockade continues
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was yet to respond to the allegation that Israel was behind the drone attack.
When asked what evidence the FFC had that the drones were in fact Israeli, the group said it followed a pattern of Israeli behaviour, given another ship was attacked by in 2010.
"Who else would attack a vessel that's carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza? That should be the question," the group's Yasemin Acar said.
"We don't have proof of if the drones are from Israel … [but], again, why would someone attack a humanitarian vessel carrying aid to Gaza?"
The group pointed to flight-tracking data showing an Israeli C130 Hercules aircraft flew in the direction of Malta in the hours before the attack.
"It's very odd that that aircraft that had flown all the way from Israel, all the way here, circled around by a period of time, and during that time that it was in this vicinity, explosions happened on the Conscience," FFC's Ann Wright said.
Israel has enforced a total humanitarian aid blockade of Gaza for more than two months, with no supplies entering the strip.
Humanitarian agencies have sounded the alarm about the situation, warning the population is almost out of food and items such as medicines are in dangerously short supply.
The Conscience was going to try to sail to Gaza to deliver aid.
"The main story here is why we are here and why this is needed in the first place," said activist Greta Thunberg, who was due to join the voyage hours after the strike.
"It is because of Israel's inhumane and illegal siege and complete … [blockade of] all humanitarian aid into Gaza, and therefore … [it is] systematically starving 2 million people."
Israeli media has reported suggestions the flotilla group has ties to Hamas.
Journalists tried repeatedly to ask the FFC for a response to those accusations during the virtual press conference, but the questions were not read out to the FFC representatives present.
