Israeli Navy Impounds Boat Of Gaza Aid

(CBS/AP)  The Israeli navy on Thursday intercepted a ship delivering 60 tons of supplies from Lebanon to the Gaza Strip and said it was towing the vessel into an Israeli port.

The ship set sail from the Lebanese port of Tripoli Tuesday in a bid to defy Israel's blockade of Gaza. Reporters from Arab TV stations Al-Jadeed and Al-Jazeera who were on the vessel said the Israelis fired at the ship before boarding it and beating those on board.

Organizers said a total of 18 people were on board. Among them 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. The Syrian-born Capucci was jailed but released three years later at the intervention of the Vatican and deported.

The organizers said four journalists, a Muslim cleric and a lawyer - all Lebanese citizens - as well as a Palestinian Muslim cleric and a British activist were also on board. They had no information on the nationality of the nine crew members.

The Israeli military said that those on board the ship, the Togolese-flagged "Tali" would be handed over to Israeli police 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.

Israel says the blockade is a response to repeated Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel and is necessary to keep arms from reaching Hamas. Since Israel ended a three-week military offensive in Gaza, Hamas has been trying to secure a reopening of the border crossings as part of a long-term cease-fire.

The army said the delivery had not been cleared by Israeli authorities, who have turned back similar attempts to reach Gaza by sea.

The military said that a naval patrol spoke by radio to the Tali, told its skipper that it would not be allowed to enter Gaza and the two sides agreed that the vessel would instead sail to the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

But on Thursday morning, the ship tried to double back and slip past the navy, Israel said, raising concerns that it might be trying to smuggle arms into Gaza.

"As a result of the actions taken by the boat crew, an Israel Navy force intercepted, boarded, and took control of the cargo boat, directing it toward (the port) of Ashdod, Israel," the statement said. "No gunshots were fired on board during the boarding and capturing of the cargo boat."

[colonieny]

My DAILY update of News CBS won''t print....

He also confirmed that Hamas had been torturing and executing Fatah members in the Gaza Strip during and after Operation Cast Lead. Nineteen Palestinians were murdered in cold blood by Hamas, Habbash said, while more than 60 others were shot in the legs.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a top Hamas official in Syria, confirmed that his movement had executed "collaborators" during the war. He claimed that Fatah members had taken to the streets to blow kisses at IAF planes and handed out candies as they attacked Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, for its part, accused the government of PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad of stealing food and medicine supplies donated to the people of the Gaza Strip. A spokesman for the Hamas government claimed that some of Fayad''s top aides had sold the supplies to merchants in the Strip who, in turn, were selling them in the local market.

from the J. Post.... my question is , not is CBS biased, obviously it is, but WHY!

[trapbreaker]

FOX: A United Nations agency''s suspension Friday of aid into Gaza is the latest in a series this week of tougher stances against Hamas %u2014 in contrast to the U.N.''s criticisms of Israel during its battle with Hamas in Gaza in late December and January.

The suspension of aid was in response to armed Hamas militants on Thursday stealing hundreds of tons of food intended for Palestinians by armed Hamas militants.

Also this week, the U.N. reversed its earlier claims that Israeli Defense Forces had bombed a school in Gaza administered by the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA). On Tuesday, the U.N.''s Office for Humanitarian Affairs issued a report on the Jan. 6 incident that claimed the lives of 43 Palestinians, stating that "the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school."

[trapbreaker]

FOX: A United Nations agency''s suspension Friday of aid into Gaza is the latest in a series this week of tougher stances against Hamas %u2014 in contrast to the U.N.''s criticisms of Israel during its battle with Hamas in Gaza in late December and January.

The suspension of aid was in response to armed Hamas militants on Thursday stealing hundreds of tons of food intended for Palestinians by armed Hamas militants.

Also this week, the U.N. reversed its earlier claims that Israeli Defense Forces had bombed a school in Gaza administered by the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA). On Tuesday, the U.N.''s Office for Humanitarian Affairs issued a report on the Jan. 6 incident that claimed the lives of 43 Palestinians, stating that "the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school."

[trapbreaker]

If Somalia does it the propaganda system calls it piracy-the brainwashed masses in the US are suckered easily. - - Posted by babooph

Israel isn''t holding the ship, cargo, and crew for ransom. The supplies were searched for weapons and sent to Gaza by land.

[trapbreaker]

JERUSALEM %u2014 The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it has halted all aid shipments into the Gaza Strip due to interference by the ruling Hamas militant group.

The U.N. Relief and Works agency said it made the decision after Hamas personnel intercepted an aid shipment for the second time this week.

[hamiltongrad]

CBS BIAS
The rest of the news CBS bias avoids

Excuse, The UN today stopped shipments into GAZA because the HAMA darlings have been stealing them for themselves. EVEN the UN has had it with these nutjobs.
Why doth thou thinkest that CBS is such a stinkest ? could it be OIL MONEY ???

[gemy2]

Im not in favour of terrorism, but this capture by the israeli government who control all access to palestine lands is wrong and unjustifiable.

The vessel had already been searched prior to leaving Lebanon, and no weapons were found. So what was israels reasons for its piracy in palestinian waters.

It was either more persecution of the civilians or confiscate goods specifically for Gaza to divert to other willing partners in this atrocity.
.

[babooph]

If Somalia does it the propaganda system calls it piracy-the brainwashed masses in the US are suckered easily.

[ioweign]

That Somali training is paying off for Israel...

[ffoulkes-2009]

Pardon me, but wasn''''t Hamas VOTED in? What is this hogwash about ''''seized control''''? CBS has been bought by AIPAC.

Posted by gramto8 at 10:08 AM : Feb 05, 2009
____________
''voted in'' AFTER taking control from the legitimate government of Palestine by force and bloodshed.