[IsraelTimes] Navy arrests 8 passengers, some of them Paleostinians injured in recent border festivities with Israel, after vessel left permitted fishing zone, ostensibly en route to CyprusThe Israeli Navy stopped and seized a fishing boat that attempted to break through the naval blockade around the Gazoo Strip, arresting the eight Paleostinians on board, some of them people injured in recent border festivities with Israeli troops, the military said.
The vessel’s purported destination was Cyprus, however the boat lacked the equipment necessary to safely reach the island nation, making it more likely that this was a symbolic act of protest.
"The vessel was seized without incident," the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
After a search of the vessel, the boat was towed to the Israeli Navy’s base at the Ashdod port.
IDF medics provided treatment to the injured people on board the vessel, the army said.
Hundreds of Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip had gathered to see off the boat. Among the passengers were four people said to have been maimed by Israeli soldiers during recent riots along the security fence surrounding the Gazoo Strip. The other passengers were said to be students.
The passengers "with specific needs are prevented from travelling, receiving care, and finishing their studies," said organizer Raed Abu Dair. "We are determined to break the blockade."
Mahmud Abu Ataya, 25, who recently suffered a leg wound east of Gazoo City, said: "I am leaving to be cared for abroad."
This was the second time in two months that a Gazook fishing vessel was used in an attempt to break the blockade, which Israel maintains is necessary to prevent terrorist organizations from bringing weapons into the coastal enclave. The blockade, which is also enforced by Egypt, has been deemed legal by the United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
and other international bodies, though it remains hotly contested by many human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
groups.
Under the blockade, which was put in place in 2007, Paleostinians are forbidden to travel more than 11 kilometers (seven miles) from the Gazoo shore.
"This is the second time in two months that the Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, terror group tried to cause a provocation at sea by taking advantage of injured and handicapped people and by paying residents of Gazoo to take part in this kind of activity," the army said.
On May 29, another vessel from the Gazoo Strip, called al-Hurriyah (Liberty), attempted to run the blockade.
"The IDF seized a Paleostinian boat carrying some 17 sailors who broke the sea blockade," the navy said at the time. "The seizure was carried out without incident."
Then too the boat was towed to Ashdod.