Mysterious blast sinks Gaza's anti-siege boat

Gaza’s Ark, a boat docked at a fishing harbour in Gaza, exploded yesterday, the spokesperson for the ship Mahfouz Kabariti told AFP.

“The guard received an anonymous call that the boat would explode in a few minutes. The explosion caused great damage to the boat and it partly sank,” Kabariti said.

He noted that the authorities opened an investigation into the incident and blamed the explosion on the Israeli occupation, pointing out that Israel has a history of damaging solidarity boats that aimed to provide aid to the Palestinian people.

Kabariti said preparations had been made to ensure the boat was ready to sail on an experimental voyage next week. The first official voyage aimed at defying Israel’s naval blockade of the Strip, which was to have tens of foreign activists on board, was scheduled for June 15.

The ship was due to carry goods produced in Gaza including agricultural products, pottery and furniture, with the aim of exporting these products to European countries by sea.

Kabariti said although the sailing of the ship has been postponed as a result of the damage that happened to it, they are determined to repair the ship and rebuild it and sail after it has been repaired.