Libyan Aid Ship Headed For Gaza Stopped by Israeli Navy, Charity Head Says

A Libyan aid ship bound for the Gaza Strip was stopped and surrounded by four Israeli vessels about 60 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, said Youssef Sawani, director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which organized the aid ship. Sawani spoke in a telephone interview from Libya. BBC: Libyan ship with Gaza aid 'heads to Egypt', Israel says.

PressTV: Israeli Navy surrounds aid vessel. The Israeli Navy reportedly blockades a Libyan-chartered aid vessel which has set sail for the blockaded Gaza Strip, issuing threats against the convoy. "Israeli warships are surrounding and threatening the cargo ship. There is a real threat," said Yussef Sawan, the executive director of the Tripoli-based Gaddafi International Charity and Development Association, AFP reported. The organization tasked the seaborne mission on board the Moldova-flagged cargo ship, Amalthea, to break Tel Aviv's years-long siege of Gaza. The vessel is carrying 12 crewmembers and 2,000 tons of relief supplies from Greece to the impoverished sliver. Communications with the ship are being jammed, Sawan added, pointing at possible electronic obstructions against the humanitarian effort.