SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Palestinians launched a group of fishing boats from Gaza on Tuesday to challenge the Israeli naval blockade. (Photo: Raidio Teilifis Eireann)
Amid Rocket Fire and Airstrikes, Gazans Launch Fishing Boats to Challenge Israel's Naval Blockade
Participants reportedly include medical patients and students barred from leaving the occupied territory
May 29, 2018
As Palestinian militants fired mortar shells into southern Israel and Israeli forces responded with airstrikes on Gaza targets on Tuesday, a group of Palestinians launched a humanitarian envoy of fishing boats off the Gazan coast to challenge Israel and Egypt's naval blockade.
A main boat carrying about 20 people set sail from the Gaza City harbor on Tuesday, accompanied by several smaller vessels, said protest organizers and AFP journalists.
"Occupants include medical patients and students unable to leave through overland crossings," according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli navy, which has imposed the blockade for more than a decade, seized control of at least one boat that attempted to cross the blockade. An organizer told the AFP "Israeli forces surrounded it and intercepted it," and that organizers had lost communication with the vessel for more than 30 minutes.
Initially, reports Raidio Teilifis Eireann, "there were conflicting statements about whether the boats would seek to break Israel's blockade, which currently allows them to travel nine nautical miles (16km) off the coast. Some organizers said they would only protest, while other participants said they wanted to move past the limit."
The expedition, as the AP noted, "marks eight years since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing nine pro-Palestinian Turks and sparking an international outcry against the blockade."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As Palestinian militants fired mortar shells into southern Israel and Israeli forces responded with airstrikes on Gaza targets on Tuesday, a group of Palestinians launched a humanitarian envoy of fishing boats off the Gazan coast to challenge Israel and Egypt's naval blockade.
A main boat carrying about 20 people set sail from the Gaza City harbor on Tuesday, accompanied by several smaller vessels, said protest organizers and AFP journalists.
"Occupants include medical patients and students unable to leave through overland crossings," according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli navy, which has imposed the blockade for more than a decade, seized control of at least one boat that attempted to cross the blockade. An organizer told the AFP "Israeli forces surrounded it and intercepted it," and that organizers had lost communication with the vessel for more than 30 minutes.
Initially, reports Raidio Teilifis Eireann, "there were conflicting statements about whether the boats would seek to break Israel's blockade, which currently allows them to travel nine nautical miles (16km) off the coast. Some organizers said they would only protest, while other participants said they wanted to move past the limit."
The expedition, as the AP noted, "marks eight years since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing nine pro-Palestinian Turks and sparking an international outcry against the blockade."
As Palestinian militants fired mortar shells into southern Israel and Israeli forces responded with airstrikes on Gaza targets on Tuesday, a group of Palestinians launched a humanitarian envoy of fishing boats off the Gazan coast to challenge Israel and Egypt's naval blockade.
A main boat carrying about 20 people set sail from the Gaza City harbor on Tuesday, accompanied by several smaller vessels, said protest organizers and AFP journalists.
"Occupants include medical patients and students unable to leave through overland crossings," according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli navy, which has imposed the blockade for more than a decade, seized control of at least one boat that attempted to cross the blockade. An organizer told the AFP "Israeli forces surrounded it and intercepted it," and that organizers had lost communication with the vessel for more than 30 minutes.
Initially, reports Raidio Teilifis Eireann, "there were conflicting statements about whether the boats would seek to break Israel's blockade, which currently allows them to travel nine nautical miles (16km) off the coast. Some organizers said they would only protest, while other participants said they wanted to move past the limit."
The expedition, as the AP noted, "marks eight years since Israeli commandos raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, killing nine pro-Palestinian Turks and sparking an international outcry against the blockade."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.