Gazan Boat NOT Boobytrapped!

Israel playing war games as usual, to hype up tension in the region and to attempt to turn the West against Palestinians. Monday's headlines about the so called "explosive laden boat" is a hoax. This is yet another excuse to keep Gazans from getting any extra food for themselves by fishing. Israel controls the borders, only allows a scant amount of food and supplies inside, now they are cutting of fishing as well. If there had been "hundreds of kilograms of explosives" on that tiny boat as Israel claims below, then it would have been a much bigger explosion than what we saw.

The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry in Gaza slammed Israeli allegations that Palestinians attempted to attack an Israeli warship using an explosive-laden fishing boat on Monday morning.

The ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that Israel’s account of Monday’s events was a “trumped up story aimed at escalating aggression against fishermen” and “an excuse for piracy and destruction.”

The Agriculture Ministry said it spoke with eyewitnesses who swore the boat contained no explosives, and that it exploded only when an Israeli warship shelled it.

Israeli military Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi maintained the Israeli version of events saying, “The fishing boat that was identified this morning by Israel Navy boats was booby-trapped with hundreds of kilograms of explosives."

“We assume that this was an attempt to attack one of the Israel Navy boats, an attempt that fortunately was not successful, thanks to the soldiers correctly implementing the regulations,” said Ashkenazi.

Witnesses told Ma’an that warships renewed their shelling on Tuesday morning, firing heavy barrages of missiles and shells at fishing boats in the As-Sudaniya area of the northern Gaza Strip. No one was injured

Israeli gunboats fire on Gazan fisherman daily, preventing them from fishing more than a few hundred meters from shore. Gaza’s fishing industry has all but collapsed because of the naval blockade.source