Israel fires on and storms Lebanese aid ship. Beats up crew and commandeers vessel

The reports also said Israeli warships had opened fire on the ship after it entered Palestinian territorial waters.

Organizer Maan Bashour told Deustche Presse-Agentur dpa, that contact was lost with the ship after the Israeli soldiers stormed the vessel off the Gaza coast.

'I hold the Israelis responsible for the safety of the people on board the ship,' he said.

On Wednesday, Israeli gunboats fired at the ship 20 miles off the coast of Gaza, but the crew and passengers on board decided to continue their trip despite the threats.

From agencies

"They [Israeli navy] are opening fire towards the vessel ... there are Israeli soldiers who have actually boarded the vessel," said Salam Khoder, an Al Jazeera correspondent on board the ship.

"Three of them are pointing their weapons at us ... They are beating those on the vessel, they are beating and kicking us," Khoder said in a frantic voice before the telephone interview was terminated.
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Jazeera said attempts to re-establish contact with Khoder had failed. It did not say how many people were on board the boat.

The organizer of the Lebanese delivery, Maan Bashour told reporters that the IDF had opened fire on the boat close to the Gaza shore. "The Brotherhood Ship was fired on by an Israeli military boat 32 kilometers off the coast of Gaza and they were asked to divert course,"

BEIRUT, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- Israel intercepted on Wednesday afternoon the ship which set off from northern Lebanon on Monday night to challenge the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-ruled enclave, local New TV reported.

The ship, carrying 60 tons of medicine, food, toys and books, was intercepted as it sailed towards Gaza this afternoon from Cyprus where the Cypriot authorities had cleared the way for the trip after searching the vessel to ensure transparency overnight Tuesday, said New TV.

The report gave no more details about the Israeli interception, but noted that eight people were allowed on board on Monday from Tripoli port in northern Lebanon, after a long-day negotiation between the trip organizers and Lebanese Transportation Minister Gazai Ariedy.

Among the eight are journalists from al-Jazeera TV and New TV, along with rights activists and former Greek catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who left Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving in Israeli jail.

The aid mission is organized by the Palestinian National Committee Against the Siege and the US-based Free Gaza Movement.

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