Tunis, Tunisia - Activists on the Gaza aid flotilla said they remained determined to break Israel's illegal blockade after their ship was allegedly targeted by a "drone attack" off Tunisia overnight.

The flotilla organizers said late Monday that one of their boats was hit by a suspected UAV off the coast of Tunisia, but authorities there said "no drones" had been detected.

"Our will is stronger and we are more determined (than ever) to break the blockade against Gaza," Tunisian organizer Ghassen Henchiri told a crowd in Tunis.

Nadir al-Nuri, a member of the Global Sumud Flotilla's steering committee, told AFP that the flotilla was set to depart the Tunisian capital on Wednesday as scheduled.

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The vessel arrived in Tunisia on the weekend and was anchored off the coast of Sidi Bou Said when it reported the incident.

Some members of the flotilla said they saw the drone, adding that the boat's bow caught fire immediately after.

Authorities dismissed reports of a drone strike as "completely unfounded" and suggested the fire may have been caused by a cigarette butt, but security footage posted by the flotilla organizers later showed a burning mass falling from a distance onto the ship.

None of the six people aboard the boat at the time was hurt and the fire was quickly extinguished, according to an AFP journalist who arrived shortly after the flames had been doused.

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila posted a video on Instagram featuring testimony from another member of the flotilla who claimed to have seen a drone.

"It was 100% a drone that dropped a bomb," the member says in the video.

The flotilla – which is carrying Greta Thunberg among other prominent names – denounced the incident as "acts of aggression aiming to derail (its) mission."

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"If it's confirmed that this is a drone strike, it will be an assault, an aggression against Tunisia and Tunisian sovereignty," Francesca Albanese, who is the UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories and lives in Tunis, told reporters at the port.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. It has previously targeted and detained activists sailing to break the blockade of Gaza, where famine has been declared.

Legal experts, human rights organizations, and scholars have concluded that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.