GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, June 5, (AFP) -Israeli troops intercepted an international aid ship headed for the Gaza Strip on Saturday just five days after a deadly raid on similar vessels, the Gaza-based committee awaiting the vessel told AFP.
The report was completely denied by the Israeli military, however. “The Rachel Corrie has been intercepted 35 miles off Gaza,” spokesman Amjad al-Shawa told AFP after speaking by phone with activists on the ship.
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| A picture uploaded to the freegaza.org photo site shows on October 29, 2009 Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire (2L) aboard the MV Rachel Corrie, a boat carrying some 750 tonnes of aid towards the blockaded Gaza Strip through the Mediterranean on June 3. AFP |
“Several Israeli boats surrounded them between 30 and 35 miles off Gaza and prevented them from reaching Gaza,” he said.
“They try to take the boat, maybe to (the southern Israeli port city of) Ashdod or maybe to another place.”Shawa said communication with the boat had been “completely cut” but the committee would keep trying to reach them.
The Israeli military completely denied the report, with a spokeswoman telling AFP: “No, it has not been intercepted.”Military sources also said there had been “no source contact” with the vessel which has 15 people on board, including Irish and Malaysian activists, four Indonesian crew and a Scottish captain. Israeli public radio also said the Rachel Corrie had been intercepted and was being escorted by least three navy vessels through a stretch of water some 35 miles from the Egyptian coast.
Martin Quigley, a Dublin-based spokesman for the vessel, which is carrying 15 people and tonnes of aid for Gaza, could not confirm the information and said he had not been in contact with the boat.
“They had agreed to call us the minute they spotted any Israeli ships,”Quigley said, saying he had not been able to reach the passengers on the satellite phone. “It sounds like the phone is off the hook.”
Gaza aid ship defying orders
to put to Israel port: military
JERUSALEM, June 5, (AFP) -Gaza-bound aid ship Rachel Corrie ignored Israeli orders to put to port in the southern coastal city of Ashdod Saturday and steamed on towards Gaza in defiance of the warships which had intercepted it, the military said.
“We indicated several times to the organisers aboard the ship that they should head to the port of Ashdod as there is a blockade in force on the Gaza Strip, but they ignored our appeals and are continuing to head towards Gaza,” a military spokeswoman said. Earlier a spokesman for the Gaza-based welcoming committee told AFP: “The Rachel Corrie has been intercepted 35 miles off Gaza. |
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