Israeli Gunboat Intercepts Al-Amal Aid Ship

Libyan ship being intercepted by Israeli gunboats

www.gicdf.org

An Israeli gunboat is currently intercepting Al-Amal aid ship bound for Gaza. The Ship’s Captain was asked by the gunboat crew to go to El Arish port instead, stressing that the vessel will not be allowed to go into Gaza at all.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Edit to correct title to original article

[edit on 13/7/2010 by PuterMan]

The boat looks as if it was intending to go to Gaza even though it's stated destination was the Egyptian port. According to the Libyan Aid agency as stated above the ship is currently being intercepted by the Israelis.

We will have to wait and see how this pans out but they have previously stated that they would be prepared to let the Israelis inspect the cargo.

www.gicdf.org
(visit the link for the full news article)

It is being shown on Twitter breaking news

The Israelis have made radio contact: The Libyan ship has refused to comply I understand. More info

This is now being reported on Ynet and on the Jerusalem Post however this JP article is pre-the radio intercept.

[edit on 13/7/2010 by PuterMan]

Something to keep an eye on, for sure.


Reuters is now reporting this.


Israeli navy makes contact with Gaza bound ship


From the link:

Israeli navy makes contact with Gaza bound ship

13 Jul 2010 12:15:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
JERUSALEM, July 13 (Reuters) - The Israeli navy made contact with a Libyan aid ship bound for the Gaza Stripon Tuesday, but its commandos have not boarded the vessel, the Israeli military said.

"The navy just began its process of trying to stop the ship," a military spokeswoman said. "At this time the process of communicating with them has begun." (Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Jeffrey Heller)

Link

It's an ongoing situation as I type.

reply to post by Regensturm


I gather it is 288 km from Gaza so it will still be a while yet. It is supposed to be there by Wednesday some time.

The aid agency are saying and intercept, but it does look as if this is only by radio so far.

Great News! Way to Go Isreal! Don't mess around this time. Do it right and proper.

It will be a lot different this time around.

This is the current position of the ship (lifted from Twitter)

FYI, Libyan ship currently under threat of hijack by Israel is called Amalthea. here's map of her current position

Update on the Israeli position on this: Israeli navy on high alert to storm approaching Libyan aid ship Amal Not sure how accurate this site is.

Snippet

A top naval officer was quoted as saying that the navy would deal with the Libyan ship the same way as it did with the Freedom Flotilla convoy.

[Edit to add new link for ship's position. Other one not working]

[edit on 13/7/2010 by PuterMan]

This is the same ship that was supposed to be bound for an Egyptian port as was discussed the involved governments behind the supplies.

But the captain of the ship searching for publicity & some sort of notoriety changed his mind and decided to head straight for Gaza after leaving the port in Greece in defiance of the conditions already set by his government.

So who is in the wrong here?

Originally posted by prionace glauca

So who is in the wrong here?

Right or wrong it is going to cause a conflict if the ship continues on it's present course.

The only way the Israelis can deal with this without going down the same road as before is to literally block the port of Gaza with their naval vessels. If the Libyan ship rams then that is tantamount to an act of war and the Israelis can legitimately (I am not saying rightly) sink the ship.

Now being reported on the BBC

The Israeli military says it has begun the process of trying to stop a Libyan aid ship from reaching Gaza.

The navy has made contact with the vessel, but its commandos have not boarded the ship, a spokeswoman said.

Well this is certainly getting worldwide attention! Interesting to see how this pans out.

I hope no one gets hurt or killed this time.

It's starting to receive attention on the media wires now...



Libyan ship "will continue to Gaza'


From the link:

Libyan ship 'will continue to Gaza'


Organisers of a Libya-sponsored aid ship have said they will continue their attempt to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, despite Israeli claims that the vessel would instead sail to Egypt.

Yousseuf Sawani, a director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, told Al Jazeera that there were no plans for the Al-Amal to dock at the port El-Arish.

"This is definitely a part of the campaign against the ship, a campaign of distortion, but we are definitely heading towards Gaza, because that is where aid should be heading to," he told Al Jazeera.

"This is a purely humane mission, it is neither provocative nor hostile," he said.

The ship set sail from Greece on Saturday, carrying 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, but the Israeli foreign ministry said that it had reached an agreement with Greece and Moldova to have the ship diverted to Egypt.

Israeli request

Israeli authorities also reportedly contacted Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, to request that the ship be allowed to dock in El-Arish, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.


But Hossam Zaki, a spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry, said that he was not expecting the ship to travel to the Egyptian port.

"This ship is not headed Egypt. We did not get any official request from the Libyan side for the ship to dock in Egypt," he said.

"Its not about the Israelis' request. Its up to the will of the organisers of the ship.

"They said they are heading to Gaza, they did not approach us. The situation as far we are concerned is a ship heading to Gaza."

The boat was chartered by a charity headed by the son of Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, and is carrying "a number of supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in the plight amidst the siege imposed on Gaza".

More


Al Jazeera report that they have a correspondent on board.

Israel: We won’t let Libyan-backed ship reach Gaza

Defense Minister Ehud Barak in a statement called the ship “an unnecessary provocation,” and regretted that it had left Greece. “It is possible to bring merchandise into Gaza, after it has been checked, through the Ashdod port,” Barak said. “However, we will not allow the entrance of arms and ammunition into Gaza. We recommend to the organizers of the flotilla to accompany Israeli naval ships into Ashdod or to sail directly for El-Arish.”

Has some info in this article about the make up of the crew and the contents of the cargo.

I wonder, what would happen if:
Someone was to "BLOCKADE THE AID that comes to Israel fro the US?
oh silly me...
That would be Jew hating Anti semetism.
Betcha The Zionist Israeli government would have a conniption fit about that.



[edit on 13-7-2010 by Danbones]

[edit on 13-7-2010 by Danbones]

Originally posted by Danbones
I wonder, what would happen if:
Someone was to "BLOCKADE THE AID that comes to Israel fro the US?
oh silly me...
That would be Jew hating Anti semetism.
Betcha The Zionist Israeli government would have a conniption fit about that.

Sounds like a scheme to me. Do you think we could persuade the Iranians to set up the blockade?

Now that would be something to watch!!!

OK it looks as if it is starting in earnest now.

IDF issue ultimatum to Libyan ship: Change course by midnight to Egypt or be intercepted. Navy shadowing ship.

Twitter search

Unfortunately the poster does not provide a source so I will try and find it.

reply to post by PuterMan


It is American Tax dollars going to the british crown, ooops I mean Israel.
shouldn't that be a Tea Party ideal?
oh yeah, I forgot Palin pledged undying support for Israel.

PS
I noticed certain Israeli appologists showed up here at ATS yesterday after a couple of weeks absence. I knew something was going to be up.
guess you nailed what it is




[edit on 13-7-2010 by Danbones]

Now here is an interesting article. I wondered why Libya was getting involved.

Since Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi, 68, picked Moatassem-Billah, son number four, to succeed him upon his retirement in three years, his eldest son, Seif al-Islam, has schemed tirelessly to stay in the limelight and avoid being passed over as future potentate of this oil- and gas-rich nation. Seif's latest dodge, according to debkafile's intelligence sources, is the privately-launched Al-Amal for breaking Israel's naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. Awaited by the Israeli Navy Tuesday or Wednesday, Tripoli has officially disavowed the venture.

Source

Seems 'Daddy' is perhaps not so keen on the idea?

The article continues:

His father, still on top of the palace intrigue in Tripoli, tried to put a crimp on Seif's game. Sunday, July 11, he suddenly banned the departure of private and chartered aircraft from Libyan airfields for Egypt, Greece, Crete or Cyprus, to make sure his ambitious son would not be able to join the ship and star in a political and propaganda triumph that would beat out his brother's chances in the succession stakes.

reply to post by PuterMan


Found another source.

The Libyan aid ship Amalthea, or Al-Amal is still over a hundred miles from the Gaza coast, and currently being shadowed by the Israeli Navy who have issued an ultimatum and threats. Crew on board the Amalthea say that Israel has given them until midnight tonight – Tuesday – to change their course……or to be boarded....

Source

I don't know if this is the one quoted on Twitter but it would seem to confirm.

Another confirmation of Daddy's disapproval:

Al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reports country’s authorities have restricted takeoff of private flights in bid to prevent Libyan leader’s son from joining aid vessel attempting to reach Gaza.

In a surprising move, Libyan authorities decided Sunday to restrict the takeoff of private flights from the country for fear that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi would try to join an aid ship attempting to reach the Gaza Strip, the London-based Arabic-language al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Monday.
Read Full report on Ynetnews.

Source

[edit on 13/7/2010 by PuterMan]

reply to post by PuterMan


Just as I mentioned before, this ship was suppose to head to Egypt as it was initially agreed upon. Once the ship left a Port in Greece, ships Captain either order or on his own accord to seek some sort notoriety has set off on a course to Gaza which was never agreed upon by the governments involved.

Just another attempt at instigation.

reply to post by prionace glauca


Agreed, yes you mentioned this and it was also what I had understood.

Seems as though Gadafi's son may have other ideas. Being a Moldavian registered ship, and Moldova having agreed to the Egypt landfall, one suspects that the captain has either been got at or is perhaps unaware of the agreement.

You cannot continue to claim that your occupation is God given is you disregard God's basic laws for humanity.

Israel is mistletoe on the tree of life and killing is slowly.

[edit on 13-7-2010 by zroth]