Israeli Navy Intercepts Lebanese Ship Carrying Supplies to Gaza

JERUSALEM-The Israeli navy intercepted a ship delivering 60 tons of supplies to the Gaza Strip from Lebanon on Thursday in the latest bid to defy Israel's blockade of the militant-held territory.The Israelis fired at the ship before boarding it and beating those on board, said reporters from Arab TV stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera who were on the Lebanese vessel.Gunfire could be heard in the background of the telephoned reports aired by their stations.The Israeli navy said no gunshots were fired on board while it boarded and seized the ship. The navy said it was towing the vessel,which set sail Tuesday from Lebanon, into an Israeli port.Lebanon's prime minister condemned the "blatant attack" and one of the ship's organizers called it a kidnapping. But Israel said the ship tried to slip past its navy after agreeing to sail to Egypt instead.The Israeli military said those on board the ship, the Tali, would be handed over to Israeli immigration authorities-and the aid would be transferred to Gaza by land.Israel has kept Gaza's cargo crossings largely closed since the Hamas militant group seized control of the coastal strip in June 2007.Diasgreements over opening the Gaza blockade led Hamas negotiators to leave talks in Egypt on Thursday on a long-term cease-fire with Israel. The Hamas team was later stopped at an Egypt-Gaza border crossing with millions of dollars and Euros in their suitcases, an Egyptian security official said.The organizers of the aid ship, Lebanese leftist political and human rights activists, said 18 people were on board and the cargo was comprised of medicine, food, toys and basic humanitarian supplies such as mattresses and blankets.Among the passengers was 86-year-old Greek Catholic priest Hillarion Capucci, who while serving as an archbishop in Jerusalem was convicted in 1974 by an Israeli court for using his diplomatic status to smuggle arms to Palestinian militants. He was later released from jail at the intervention of the Vatican and deported.Israel says the blockade of Gaza is a response to repeated Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel and is necessary to keep arms from reaching Hamas...
By AP
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