Israeli Navy

JERUSALEM — Eight ships carrying 10,000 tons of donated supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists yesterday were making their way toward blockaded Gaza — and a likely weekend showdown with the Israeli Navy. The small flotilla carrying cement, prefab homes, and other goods marks the most ambitious attempt yet to break the border blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant group Hamas violently seized the territory in 2007. Israel warned that it would not let the vessels reach Gaza, and has reportedly set up a detention center for the activists in...

JERUSALEM - Israeli naval forces boarded a French yacht off the Gaza coast yesterday as the yacht tried to breach the Israeli maritime blockade of the Palestinian enclave. The forces met no resistance, Israeli military officials said, and steered the yacht toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. The yacht is a remnant of an international flotilla that had planned to challenge the blockade last month but was mostly thwarted. The flotilla organizers had wanted to mark a year since the last flotilla, an attempt to reach Gaza that ended in bloodshed, and to highlight the...

BEIRUT - A yacht carrying international peace activists and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip was turned back and damaged in an altercation with the Israeli navy yesterday, Israel and trip organizers said. The vessel, called SS Dignity, was greeted by a small, cheering crowd as it pulled into the southern Lebanese port of Tyre with damage near the prow. Its aid trip was foiled as Israel wages a major bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 360 people since Saturday.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli Navy has fired on Palestinian divers off Gaza and Palestinian medics say four people were killed in the shooting. Israel is enforcing a naval blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza. The Israeli military said the navy spotted men in diving suits, opened fire, and prevented a terror attack. The incident occurred before dawn today close to the Gaza coast. Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanain said four bodies in diving suits were retrieved by a rescue team.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Israeli Navy has fired on Palestinian divers off Gaza and Palestinian medics say four people were killed in the shooting. Israel is enforcing a naval blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza. The Israeli military said the navy spotted men in diving suits, opened fire, and prevented a terror attack. The incident occurred before dawn today close to the Gaza coast. Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanain said four bodies in diving suits were retrieved by a rescue team.

JERUSALEM - Israeli naval forces boarded a French yacht off the Gaza coast yesterday as the yacht tried to breach the Israeli maritime blockade of the Palestinian enclave. The forces met no resistance, Israeli military officials said, and steered the yacht toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. The yacht is a remnant of an international flotilla that had planned to challenge the blockade last month but was mostly thwarted. The flotilla organizers had wanted to mark a year since the last flotilla, an attempt to reach Gaza that ended in bloodshed, and to...

HAIFA, Israel — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and a Holocaust survivor, were bound last night for the Gaza Strip, edging closer to an expected naval showdown with Israeli gunships determined to stop them. Confirming reports by an Arabic satellite service and a Turkish TV network, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said today that at least 2 people were killed and more than 30 wounded in an Israeli raid on an aid ship. The ministry condemned the raid, calling it unacceptable, and demanded an “urgent...

JERUSALEM — Ships carrying 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to blockaded Gaza were being held up near Cyprus yesterday, as organizers tried to get nearly two dozen high-profile supporters on board. The flotilla was to set sail toward Gaza yesterday, in any event, and approach the territory today, about 24 hours behind schedule, said Greta Berlin, one of the activists. A showdown with the Israeli Navy appeared inevitable. Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, reiterated yesterday that the ships would be...

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military yesterday released documents and photos it said proved Iran was behind a huge shipment of weapons Israeli Navy commandos intercepted last week. Israel has said the cargo ship its troops seized off the coast of Cyprus was carrying 500 tons of Iranian-made weapons for Lebanese Hezbollah militants. The ship had dozens of containers with Iranian markings on it. Yesterday, the military released what it said was the ship’s manifest that showed it was handled by “Islamic Republic of Iran’s Shipping Lines.’’ It also...

GAZA CITY - An eclectic group from Hamas officials to a flag-waving scout troop showed up to greet a Libyan ship planning to flout an Israeli blockade and deliver 3,000 tons of aid to this impoverished seaside strip. But they met only disappointment. The freighter was turned back yesterday by the Israeli Navy, ending the first high-profile attempt by an Arab country to break the blockade of Gaza. Analysts said the incident showed that Arab and Muslim nations, while eager to end Gaza's isolation, will not risk a military confrontation with...

HAIFA, Israel — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and a Holocaust survivor, were bound last night for the Gaza Strip, edging closer to an expected naval showdown with Israeli gunships determined to stop them. Confirming reports by an Arabic satellite service and a Turkish TV network, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said today that at least 2 people were killed and more than 30 wounded in an Israeli raid on an aid ship. The ministry condemned the raid, calling it unacceptable, and demanded an “urgent explanation’’ from Israel.

JERUSALEM — Ships carrying 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists to blockaded Gaza were being held up near Cyprus yesterday, as organizers tried to get nearly two dozen high-profile supporters on board. The flotilla was to set sail toward Gaza yesterday, in any event, and approach the territory today, about 24 hours behind schedule, said Greta Berlin, one of the activists. A showdown with the Israeli Navy appeared inevitable. Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, reiterated yesterday that the ships would be...

JERUSALEM — Eight ships carrying 10,000 tons of donated supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists yesterday were making their way toward blockaded Gaza — and a likely weekend showdown with the Israeli Navy. The small flotilla carrying cement, prefab homes, and other goods marks the most ambitious attempt yet to break the border blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant group Hamas violently seized the territory in 2007. Israel warned that it would not let the vessels reach Gaza, and has reportedly set up a...

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military yesterday released documents and photos it said proved Iran was behind a huge shipment of weapons Israeli Navy commandos intercepted last week. Israel has said the cargo ship its troops seized off the coast of Cyprus was carrying 500 tons of Iranian-made weapons for Lebanese Hezbollah militants. The ship had dozens of containers with Iranian markings on it. Yesterday, the military released what it said was the ship’s manifest that showed it was handled by “Islamic Republic of Iran’s Shipping Lines.’’ It also produced...

BEIRUT - A yacht carrying international peace activists and medical supplies to the embattled Gaza Strip was turned back and damaged in an altercation with the Israeli navy yesterday, Israel and trip organizers said. The vessel, called SS Dignity, was greeted by a small, cheering crowd as it pulled into the southern Lebanese port of Tyre with damage near the prow. Its aid trip was foiled as Israel wages a major bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 360 people since Saturday.

JERUSALEM - Israel yesterday deported a former US congresswoman, a Nobel peace prize laureate, and other activists who were arrested and jailed after trying to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli navy commandeered their boat last week as it tried to sail from Cyprus to Gaza. It was the latest in a series of trips by activists trying to bring attention to the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on the territory after the Islamic militant group Hamas seized power there two years ago. There were 21 passengers and three tons of medical aid on board, and most of the...

BEIRUT — Another blockade-busting ship with activists and aid on board could embark within days on a new attempt to reach Gaza after Lebanese authorities granted permission yesterday for it to sail first to Cyprus. Israeli navy commandos raided a blockade-busting international flotilla bound for Gaza on May 31, killing nine pro-Palestinian activists. An international outcry over the raid pressured Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade of the territory. “We have been granted permission to go to Cyprus, and we are now in the process of making final...