Aid ship heads to Gaza from Lebanon
An aid ship bound for Israeli-blockaded Gaza and loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing and toys left the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon early on Tuesday.
On board the "Brotherhood Ship" were eight people including the former Greek-Catholic archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who left Jerusalem in the 1970s after serving time in an Israeli jail for membership of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
"We have decided to go ahead with this mission in solidarity with the people of Gaza so that they don”t feel cut off from the world," organiser Hani Suleiman told AFP before the boat left Tripoli at around midnight.
"There is no reason whatsoever for Israel to prevent us from reaching Gaza," he added. "We have no rockets, no weapons, just aid for the people of Gaza."
The Togolese-registered Tali was headed first to Cyprus where authorities were to search the vessel to ensure transparency, before continuing on to the Gaza Strip.
Picture: A crane loads a ship with aid for Gaza at the port of Tripoli on February 2. An aid ship bound for Israeli-blockaded Gaza and loaded with medical supplies, food, clothing and toys left the port city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon early on Tuesday.
(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)