Greece will guarantee the safe sailing of boats currently in its waters as part of an international flotilla heading to Gaza, its foreign minister has said, adding that Athens had informed Israel that Greek citizens were in the flotilla, Reuters reports.

“There are a small number of boats currently in the waters of Crete, and we will guarantee the safe sailing,” Giorgos Gerapetritis told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“We have already informed the Israeli government about the participation of Greek citizens in this, and we will make sure that everything goes well.”

Gerapetritis said Athens was not planning to join Italian and Spanish naval ships at this stage. He played down the drone incident, but said there would be a full inquiry to determine what happened.

“At the moment, it seems that it is safe, but we are on full alert about it,” he said.