Incendiary Munitions Strike Gaza-bound Flotilla Two Nights in a Row

On September 8 and 9, two vessels of the Gaza-bound International Sumud Flotilla (GSF) have been attacked outdoors the port of Sidi Bou Stated in Tunisia.

Bellingcat analysed footage and pictures from each incidents. The consultants consulted consider improvised incendiary munitions have been probably used. The trajectory adopted by the objects and the audio recordings additionally seem to counsel they might have been dropped from an aerial platform above the vessels. Though this tallies with witness accounts that declare they noticed a drone, extra proof could be wanted to substantiate the machine used for the assaults.

The primary assault occurred round midnight native time and focused the lead vessel, known as the Household Boat. The GSF’s official assertion stated the Household Boat was “struck by a drone in Tunisian waters”, inflicting a fireplace on “the principle deck and beneath deck storage”. The six passengers and the crew managed to extinguish the hearth. No accidents or vital harm have been reported. 

Tunisian official sources stated there was “no proof of any hostile act or exterior focusing on”. A press release printed by the nation’s Nationwide Guard on Fb said that preliminary investigations indicated the hearth broke out in one of many life jackets “on account of a lighter or cigarette butt”. On the time of publication, this stays the one official assertion about the reason for the hearth. Bellingcat despatched an inquiry to Tunisian authorities, however had not obtained a response by the point of publication.

The GSF reported that one other boat, the Alma, was hit by a second assault on September 9, shortly after midnight native time, roughly 24 hours after the primary incident. They launched a video exhibiting incendiary munition falling in the same method to that which struck the Household Boat. The crew of the Alma managed to extinguish the hearth. No accidents have been reported, and harm was minor.

The First Assault: What Open Supply Can Reveal

Following the primary assault, the GSF launched a number of movies, together with one recorded from one other vessel exhibiting an incendiary munition falling onto the Household Boat. The thing ignites above the boat’s mast – the very best level on the vessel – earlier than erupting into a bigger flaming mass and hanging the deck. The visible proof seems to contradict the assertion printed by the nation’s Nationwide Guard.

The thing should have been deployed from an aerial platform, as no greater constructions or elevated positions are seen within the analysed footage.

Eyewitness accounts help the aerial origin. Portuguese citizen Miguel Duarte was on the Household Boat. He will be seen in a video from a digicam put in on the vessel, exhibiting a view of the aft-deck and looking out upwards shortly earlier than an explosion happens off digicam. He stated in an announcement that he “noticed a drone clearly about 4m above” his head. He described the item to Bellingcat as a really noisy, sq. drone of round half a meter in width. 

Duarte additionally stated that the projectile landed straight on a pile of life jackets. The boat’s paint was broken, however no metal melted. Bellingcat was not in a position to determine any munition remnants from the obtainable open sources documenting this strike. 

Nonetheless, Bellingcat contacted two unbiased consultants who seem to agree that an improvised incendiary object was used within the assault and deployed from an aerial platform.

Dr N.R. Jenzen-Jones from Armament Analysis Companies (ARES) said: “The movies seem to indicate an incendiary object falling onto the deck of the ship in query. Opposite to some public observations, there’s nothing to counsel this was an explosive munition.” He stated that whereas the obtainable imagery is proscribed, stopping an identification presently, the incendiary object “might conceivably be a navy incendiary munition, a civilian object (comparable to a flare), or an improvised machine.”

Dr. Jenzen-Jones additionally stated that “the sound in some movies suggests a flying object comparable to a UAV or mild plane might have dropped the item from overhead, however there isn’t a conclusive proof of this, and the noise may very well be coincidental.”

Petro Pyatakov, a retired colonel who’s now a marketing consultant for the arms trade, informed Bellingcat that from the movies, “it appears to be like like an improvised incendiary shell dropped from 100-130 metres. [There are] no feels like a rocket engine or an arty shell, [just a] low blast impact solely, [maybe] some incendiary materials with an igniter like a Molotov cocktail”. 

Audio from the video footage additionally reveals the presence of a sound within the background that seems to be according to that of a drone.

Bellingcat requested Faine Greenwood, proprietor of Tarentum Consulting LLC and an knowledgeable on unmanned aerial autos, to evaluation the video. After watching the footage, Faine said that “it’s very laborious to say conclusively that this can be a drone, as we don’t really get an opportunity to see it. Nonetheless, I do suppose that the character of the recorded sound, the trajectory of the dropped explosive (as seen on this video), and the boat’s recognized proximity to the shoreline/port do make me suppose that it’s extremely believable that this was a drone assault of some type, probably carried out with a multirotor-type platform and never with a hard and fast wing.”

MarineTraffic, a worldwide ship monitoring database, exhibits that the Household Boat was moored inside roughly 1.62 kilometres of land on the time of the incident.

The Second Assault

On September 9, the GSF reported a second assault, this time focusing on the Alma. Members of the crew said they noticed a drone hovering over the ship, which then dropped the incendiary munition just like the one which struck the Household Boat. The crew managed to place out the hearth, and there have been no accidents and solely minor harm.

The GSF launched a video exhibiting the incendiary munition touchdown on the rear of the vessel, erupting right into a fireball that oversaturates the digicam, just like the strike on the Household Boat. As soon as the digicam is not oversaturated, a fireplace is seen burning on the deck earlier than being extinguished by these on board.

The incendiary munition that landed on the Alma seems to be the identical kind because the one seen within the first assault on the Household Boat. They each appear to observe the identical trajectory, have a comparable flaring look as they fall, and each create fireballs on impression that oversaturate the cameras. 

In contrast to the assault on the Household Boat, munition remnants have been recovered and shared by GSF after the Alma incident. 

Mauricio Morales, a journalist travelling with the GSF, despatched Al Jazeera a photograph of the remnants recovered after the assault on the Alma. It seems to indicate a grenade hooked up to a webbing or bag.

The picture was taken on the rear, close to the place the incendiary munition impacted the vessel.

The grenade matches the looks of smoke or thermite grenades utilized by Western militaries, together with the USA, in addition to Israel.

Bellingcat confirmed the photographs and pictures to munitions knowledgeable Dr N.R. Jenzen-Jones, from Armament Analysis Companies, who stated: “They seem to indicate what would ordinarily be a hand-thrown munition amongst the stays of a melted artificial bag or pouch. This can be an incendiary grenade, or presumably a smoke grenade used to ignite an incendiary composition held within the bag. The security pin and security lever of the grenade seem like absent, according to it being armed and able to functioning.”

Thermite grenades and smoke grenades are of comparable development, with the identical common exterior look. Whereas the above reference picture of a US AN-M14 thermite grenade is painted pink, the colors range between producers of thermite grenades.

Dr Jenzen-Jones additional said: “The fuze options an exterior clip for the safety-pin ring-pull, in addition to peripheral safety for the cut up pin. These options are widespread, however not unique, to some fashions of Israeli hand grenades. Higher photos will probably reveal vital diagnostic particulars, probably even remnants of markings on the physique of the munition.”

Whereas the precise kind of grenade – thermite or smoke – can’t be decided from the obtainable imagery, the traits of the falling incendiary munitions seen hanging the Household Boat and Alma clearly point out using an incendiary composition.