European human activists campaigning to end Israel's blockade of Gaza have accused Israeli special services of trying to disable an Irish aid ship of its Freedom Flotilla II, SAFA news reported on Thursday.
Israel cut off access to the Gaza Strip in the middle of 2006 after Palestinian Islamists abducted Israeli serviceman Gilad Shalit. Israel has since threatened to thwart any attempts to approach the enclave from sea and urged humanitarian vessels to unload their aid at other ports.
Rami Abdo, a spokesman for the European campaign, said unidentified divers, presumed to be from Israel's Mossad intelligence service, broke the engine of the Irish ship when it was anchored in a Turkish port in a bid to disrupt its departure. It will take a few days to fix the problem, he said.
Abdo slammed the action against the small vessel, which had a purely humanitarian mission. He said his organization would hold a news conference on Thursday to air a video showing the damage caused to the ship.
Flotilla spokesman Dror Feiler said there was no direct evidence Israel was involved, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday, citing a statement provided to Israeli Army Radio.
The European anti-blockade campaign has called on European countries to defend the Freedom Flotilla II against any Israeli aggression. In May 2010, Israeli commandos seized control of a Turkish vessel, the Mavi Marmara, which was part of the first Freedom Flotilla. Nine activists died in the raid near the Gaza coast, with each side blaming the other for the fatalities.
