Officials reject Gaza flotilla's claim that it was bombed: 'No basis in truth'

Tunisian authorities on Tuesday rejected an activist group s claim that a drone bombed its flotilla as it was delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza The Tunisian Interior Ministry announced in a report that reports of a drone strike on a boat at Sidi Bou Noted port have no basis in truth and was analyzing a fire that broke out on the deck of the vessel Reuters shared The response came after the Global Sumud Flotilla GSF mentioned in a message overnight that one of its main vessels was struck by a drone The group commented the boat sailing under the Portuguese flag sustained damage to its main deck and below-deck storage but that no one was hurt Footage posted on the group's social media proved a flash of light landing on one of the boats and setting off what appeared to be a fire US-BACKED GAZA AID GROUP SLAMS DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS ACCUSES IT OF SPREADING 'FALSE' PROPOSES Acts of aggression aimed at intimidating and derailing our mission will not deter us it noted in a report Our peaceful mission to break the siege on Gaza and stand in solidarity with its people continues with determination and resolve HAMAS LOSING IRON GRIP ON GAZA AS US-BACKED GROUP GETS AID TO PALESTINIANS IN NEEDThe flotilla is part of a movement consisting of dozens of boats from countries that are carrying humanitarian aid including food water and medicine in the hopes of delivering them to civilians in the Gaza Strip Swedish activist Greta Thunberg is a member of the group The group held a press conference in the Tunisian capital of Tunis later Tuesday People who attended waved Palestinian flags and banners Portuguese activist Miguel Duarte who was aboard the vessel mentioned at the press conference that he clearly saw a drone just a scarce meters above his head moments before an explosion The drone stood a inadequate seconds on top of a bunch of life jackets and then dropped a bomb Duarte reported The bomb exploded and there was a big flame there was a fire on board at once We picked up the fire extinguishers we were able to fight the fire successfully and everybody was safe fortunately Israel has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza since Hamas took control in saying it is necessary to stop weapons from being smuggled The blockade has remained in place throughout Israel's current war with Hamas following the terror group's deadly attack on Israel in October The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this summary