Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said he will join Italy in sending a military warship to protect an international flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza after it was attacked by drones off Greece.
Mr Sanchez told a press conference in New York, where he has been attending the UN General Assembly, that the citizens of 45 countries were on board to deliver food to the population of Gaza and express solidarity with their suffering.
"The government of Spain insists that international law be respected and that the right of our citizens should be respected to sail through the Mediterranean in safe conditions," he said.
"Tomorrow (Thursday) we will dispatch a naval vessel from Cartagena with all necessary resources in case it was necessary to assist the flotilla and carry out a rescue operation."
Meanwhile Italy will send a second navy ship to escort the international aid flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in parliament.
It follows an announcement yesterday that he would send a navy frigate to assist the flotilla.
He expressed the "strongest condemnation" of the "attack" on the flotilla and said the navy vessel is en route to the area "for possible rescue operations".
The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, with many lawyers and activists on board, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
The vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 56 kilometres off the Greek island of Gavdos, said Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla.
Ms Thunberg told Reuters on Monday that they had drones flying over them each night.
"This mission is about Gaza, it isn't about us. And no risks that we could take could even come close to the risks the Palestinians are facing every day," she said in a videocall from the ship.
Irish activist Sarah Clancy, who is part of the flotilla, said drones targeting their boats are an attempt to harass and intimidate them.
She said nine or ten boats in the flotilla were hit by projectiles that emitted smoke dropped from the drones.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) departed Barcelona on 31 August, with the aim of breaking Israel's blockade of Gaza. It currently numbers 51 vessels, most of which are off the Greek island of Crete.
Israel has repeatedly criticised the flotilla for its implied support for Hamas, but made no comment on whether it was responsible for the drones.
It launched the war in Gaza in response to attacks on 7 October 2023 by Hamas militants, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, the conflict has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and has spread famine, destroyed most buildings and displaced the population, in many cases multiple times.
