Israeli naval forces fired warning shots yesterday at a ship carrying aid to Gaza as it approached the shore, forcing it to withdraw, the vessel’s Malaysian organizer said.
“The MV Finch, carrying sewage pipes to Gaza, had warning shots fired at it by Israeli forces in the Palestinian security zone this morning at 6:54[am] Jordan time,” said Shamsul Azhar from the Perdana Global Peace Foundation.
“The vessel was in the Palestinian security zone, about 400m from the Gaza shoreline, when they were intercepted by Israeli naval forces,” he said, adding it was anchored 30 nautical miles (55.56km) away in Egyptian territory.
The foundation is led by former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, an 85-year-old firebrand who was a strident critic of the West and Israel over the Palestinian issue during his two decades in power.
The organization was also involved in the first “Freedom Flotilla,” an attempt last year to break the Israeli embargo on Gaza that ended in disaster when Israeli commandos raided the aid ships, killing nine Turks on board one of them.
Perdana Foundation officials said the MV Finch left the Port of Piraeus in Greece on Wednesday last week for Gaza, carrying plastic pipes to help restore the “devastated” sewage system in Gaza.
Alang Bendahara, a Malaysian journalist on board, said that in a dramatic encounter, Israeli ships stopped the vessel with a volley of gunfire as it approached the shore.
“The Israeli naval vessel fired a warning shot at us upon approaching and asked us to leave the waters, but the ship’s captain refused and the Israelis fired again, circling the MV Finch before firing twice more,” he said.
“At that point they threatened the ship’s captain that they would board the vessel and we were forced to turn back, it was lucky that no one was injured,” he added.
Alang said the ship’s propellers then got stuck in fishing nets, but that it managed to move away shortly after.
“Two Egyptian naval vessels were monitoring us and they escorted us once we were in Egyptian waters,” he said. “They have now boarded our vessel and are inspecting our cargo to make sure there is nothing illegal onboard. They will be escorting us to the port of al-Arish because they say they will detain the ship.”
The journalist said there were 12 people on board the vessel — seven Malaysians, two Irish, two Indians and a Canadian — including anti-war activists and journalists.
Foundation officials said the MV Finch is not part of an international aid flotilla that plans to set sail for the Gaza Strip next month.
Last month, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Avidgor Lieberman condemned the new convoy, dubbed “Freedom Flotilla II,” as aimed solely at harming his country.
Since last year’s flotilla incident, Israel has loosened some of the -restrictions on imports into Gaza and exports from the coastal enclave, but aid vessels are routinely diverted to Ashdod in Israel or Egyptian ports.
The Perdana Foundation sent volunteers on the first aid flotilla operation and also sponsored part of the cost of the mission.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese