Gaza aid ship ‘sabotaged’ before arrival
One of the ships with an aid flotilla headed toward the besieged Gaza Strip was “sabotaged” before leaving for the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian coastal sliver, an activist says.
An activist aboard one of the aid ships said on Thursday that the vessel had been sabotaged by “professionals” overnight south of Crete in the Mediterranean and would have sunk if it had gone unnoticed.
"Somebody went underneath the ship at night and sabotaged its propellers, just like they sabotaged the same ship in 2011,” Swedish activist Dror Feiler said, referring to the damage done to a ship which had taken part in a previous flotilla.
The Israeli-born activist, who boarded the Swedish Marianne of Gothenburg with 18 other activists nearly two months ago, added that the remainder of the ships would continue their mission despite the incident.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the third flotilla attempting to break the Israeli siege against Palestinians in Gaza, is expected to arrive at its destination within three days.
The vessels are said to be carrying small amounts of medical supplies and aid, including solar panels.
The activists aim to open Gaza’s port and allow freedom of movement and trade there.
Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) Bassel Ghattas is also aboard a vessel in the flotilla, stirring outrage among Israelis who have called for him to be stripped of immunity from prosecution over his decision to join the campaign.
The activists are preparing to arrive at Gaza despite concerns over possible attempts by Tel Aviv to disrupt its mission as it did to the first flotilla in 2010. Back then, Israeli naval forces attacked the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship, which claimed the lives of 10 activists.
One year later, the second flotilla, Stay Human, also failed to carry out its mission.
In 2007, Israel imposed a complete air, ground, and naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. The crippling siege has caused a serious decline in Gazans' standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty for the Palestinian enclave's 1.8 million residents, which has been described by media as the world's largest open-air prison.
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