Israel Navy blocks blockade busting ship; UPDATE: Ship boarded and towed to Ashdod
Israel's Navy has blocked the The Free Gaza ship, The Spirit of Humanity, left Cyprus early Monday and reached the edge of Israeli maritime jurisdiction on Monday night, after crossing from Lebanese waters. Israeli naval vessels apparently contacted the ship and blocked its progress south to Gaza in the middle of the night. Activists on board claimed they were threatened and had their navigational equipment electronically jammed by the IDF.I wonder what would happen if they got a little hole in the deck....
Shortly afterwards, the Spirit headed West in order to be sure to remain in international waters. Later in the morning on Tuesday, the ship was still off Israel's coast, "continuing to Gaza," according to the Free Gaza organization.
Israeli naval vessels repeated a warning message to the would-be infiltrators that they "will not be allowed to proceed to Gaza."
Foreign Ministry sources confirmed that "because of the history of this organization, we informed them that they would not be permitted to [go to Gaza]." Officially, the Spirit of Humanity is registered as on its way to Port Said, Egypt.
UPDATE 7:20 PM
The boat has now been towed to Ashdod port in southern Israel. This is from the IDF spokesperson.
In the last hour, an Israeli Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the cargo boat 'Arion,' which was bearing the flag of Greece and was illegally attempting to enter the Gaza Strip.In other words, this entire stunt is nothing but a show. Israel would have delivered the aid unless it can be used to make rockets (i.e. no cement).
The boat departed from Cyprus yesterday. Yesterday evening, the Israeli Navy contacted the boat while at sea, clarifying that it would not be permitted to enter Gazan coastal waters because of security risks in the area and the existing naval blockade.
Disregarding all warnings made, the cargo boat entered Gazan coastal waters. As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, an Israeli Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the boat, directing it towards Ashdod, Israel.
No shots were fired during the boarding of the boat. The boat crew will be handed over to the appropriate authorities.
Humanitarian goods found on board the boat will be transferred to the Gaza Strip, subject to authorization.
The IDF Spokesperson Unit would like to emphasize that any organization or country that wishes to transfer humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, can legally do so via the established crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip with prior coordination.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:16 PM
5 Comments:
I recognize Cynthia McKinney, but who is the normal women in the embedded small pic?
;)
Israel has been too gentle to its enemies. An application of force majeure would do much to correct the impression the Jewish State just puts up with violations of its sovereignty. Time to put the moonbats in their place!
better yet... let them run out of fuel, adrift in the middle of the med...
Israel's mindless leaders reward the moonbats by allowing their goods to be transferred to Gaza. Why not teach them a permanent lesson?
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I received e-mail notications of McKinney's planning. (She spoke about the earlier incident at my college in January.) Check my post, "Cynthia McKinney Demands Release After Confrontation With Israeli Navy".
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