ISTANBUL 

Communications were restored early Friday with the “Handala,” a humanitarian aid vessel heading to the Gaza Strip, after a two-hour interruption during which drones were spotted nearby, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said.

The coalition announced on Telegram that the ship is continuing its mission and is now less than 349 nautical miles (646 kilometers) from Gaza.

“For about two hours, our Freedom Flotilla boat’s communications were interrupted and drones were observed near the boat, raising serious concerns of a potential attack,” it said.

The group called on supporters to “keep your eyes on the ‘Handala’ and on Palestine and continue pressuring your governments and media to break the illegal siege on Gaza.”

In an accompanying video, activist Tan Safi said the crew was unaware of a global outage affecting Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet service.

“Some experts are investigating it and said this was unusual,” Safi noted. “It’s not the first time Elon has worked with Israel, but this was most likely a global disruption.”

Safi added that drones were still present near the vessel, prompting the activists to maintain a watch.

Starlink earlier confirmed a global connectivity outage, which was largely resolved within hours.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition earlier said it had lost contact with the ‘Handala’ amid fears of an attack after drones were spotted near the aid ship.

The incident followed similar confrontations, including a drone attack on the MV Conscience near Malta in May and the interception of the Madlene in June, when Israeli forces detained 12 activists.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 59,500 people, mostly women and children, and led to international legal proceedings at both the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ).