Libyan aid ship sails to Gaza despite Israeli threats

The Gaza-bound Libyan aid ship Al- Amal (Hope) which carries some 2,000 tons of food, medical aid and powder milk, as well as 12 Libyans, is due to reach Gaza Strip shores on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said Tuesday.

The Moldova-flagged ship, funded by Al-Gaddafi Institution for Development, an organization chaired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son, had left Tripoli last week to Greece and left Greece on Sunday evening. It is scheduled to arrive at Gaza City's fishermen marina on Wednesday.

However, Israel announced that it will stop the Libyan ship from reaching Gaza shores.

On May 31, the Israeli naval forces violently stopped a Gaza- bound flotilla, killing nine people and wounding dozens, and confiscated the ships and aid they carried.

Jamal al-Khudari, chief of the Popular Committee to Resist the Israeli Siege, told reporters that despite the Israeli threats, Libyan activists insist to reach Gaza harbor on time and refuse to be taken to any other seaport, whether it is Israeli or Egyptian.

The Libyan institution said in a press release published by London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al-Sharq El-Awsat on Tuesday that information from Hope says that it keeps sailing towards Gaza.

According to the statement, the ship crew said so far the journey was normal and expected the ship to arrive at Gaza shores on Wednesday if no one stops it. "The ship is completely humanitarian and doesn't intend to carry out any provocative action," they said.

Source: Xinhua