|
Israel Navy intercepts Gaza-bound aid vessels
Saturday November 05, 2011 10:16:33 AM,
IANS
|
|
Jersusalem:
The Israeli Navy Friday afternoon intercepted two aid boats that
were approaching the coast of Gaza Strip, leading them to southern
Israel's Ashdod port, the Israeli military said in a statement.
After the boats failed to heed calls to turn around or dock in
Egypt or Israel, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Benny
Gantz ordered naval forces to board the ships, reported Xinhua.
According to the IDF, nobody was injured during the boarding of
the ships.
The boats were carrying supplies and 27 international
pro-Palestinian activists.
The IDF said that the navy had contacted the Gaza-bound Canadian
Tahrir and Irish Saoirse ships and informed them that Gaza is
under a maritime security blockade. The IDF told the ships they
could turn around or dock in an Egyptian or at the Ashdod port,
where the goods they were carrying would be transferred to Gaza
after being inspected.
The ships did not heed that call and continued to sail toward
Gaza.
The activists will be turned over to police and immigration
authorities upon their arrival at Ashdod.
The activists set sail from Turkey on Wednesday aboard the Tahrir
and Saoirse yachts carrying medical supplies. The Israeli military
had said it would not permit them to breach its blockade.
Israel's navy has intercepted similar protest ships in the past,
towing them to Ashdod and detaining participants. Israel says its
naval blockade of Gaza is necessary to prevent weapons from
reaching militant groups like Hamas. Critics call the blockade
collective punishment of Gaza's residents.
Israel's government has said the activists can send supplies into
Gaza overland.
In May 2010, nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists were killed
when Israeli soldiers tried to halt a similar flotilla. Each side
blamed the other for the violence.
The incident sparked an international outcry and forced Israel to
ease its land blockade on Gaza, which was imposed in 2006 and
tightened, with Egyptian cooperation, after Hamas seized control
of the territory the following year.
Militants in Gaza have fired thousands of rockets into Israel in
the past decade, and now have much of southern Israel in range.
On Thursday, the Obama administration warned US citizens on the
boats that they may face legal action for violating Israeli and
American law. The activists include Americans and citizens of
eight other countries.
|
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links