ACTIVISTS from Britain travelling to Gaza as part of a 52-boat flotilla are “under attack,” a sailor warned yesterday.

Louie-Joe Findlater, 33, from Poole, joined the flotilla in Barcelona as part of an international effort to “break the Israeli occupation’s illegal siege on Gaza” and deliver humanitarian aid.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry told participants this week to dock at an Israeli port to unload, warning authorities “will not allow vessels to enter an active combat zone.”

Poole MP Neil Duncan Jordan has called on Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to take diplomatic steps to protect British volunteers, including his own constituent, Mr Findlater.

Mr Findlater said volunteers were “on alert,” adding: “We’re making all the best decisions we can, but ultimately, we’re a boat floating at sea and we need the protection of our governments to guarantee that we’re going to stay safe.”

Earlier this week, the Global Sumud Flotilla said it had faced “drones launching explosives and gases on boats,” with objects dropped on at least 10 vessels and communications jammed.

Speaking 12 miles off Crete, Mr Findlater said the British government’s recent recognition of Palestine "is worthless if they don’t actually take action to protect their citizens … when they’re on a humanitarian aid mission through international waters, legal by all international law.”

“We need to make sure we can get that aid to Gaza, and if they really do recognise Palestine, they should recognise our right to do so and the right of the Palestinians to receive that,” he said.

On Wednesday, Italy deployed a navy frigate for “possible rescue operations” and to protect lawful forms of protest, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said citizens’ rights “to navigate the Mediterranean safely” must be respected.

Mr Findlater said these actions had “changed” the mood on board but he does not “feel protected in the slightest” by the Labour government.

Mr Duncan-Jordan, an independent MP who had the Labour whip suspended, warned Ms Cooper that he is “deeply alarmed by the increasingly concerning rhetoric from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.”

“This aid belongs to the people of Gaza and must be allowed to reach them unimpeded,” he said.

“Palestinians are facing a man-made famine… The UK must do its part to ensure this aid is delivered safely and that volunteers are kept out of harm's way.”

The Foreign Office was contacted for comment.