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Israeli forces approach the Rachel Corrie

Israel Materials 5 June 2010 07:56 (UTC +04:00)
Activists on board the Gaza-bound Irish ship the Rachel Corrie have told Press TV that Israeli forces are approaching the ship and its radio and satellite signals have been jammed, PRESS TV reported.
Israeli forces approach the Rachel Corrie

Activists on board the Gaza-bound Irish ship the Rachel Corrie have told Press TV that Israeli forces are approaching the ship and its radio and satellite signals have been jammed, PRESS TV reported.

Israel and the US told the Rachel Corrie to sail to the Israeli port of Ashdod and unload, but the activists on board have rejected the demand, saying one of the aims of their mission is to break the illegal blockade of Gaza.

The Rachel Corrie had been scheduled to arrive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

Ashraf Shannon, the Press TV correspondent in Gaza, said late on Friday night that the Israeli navy had jammed the radio and satellite signals of the ship. "And for eight hours now, we have not heard anything from the ship," he added.

Israel has threatened that they will not allow the ship, which is due in a few hours, to dock at the port of Gaza, he stated.

On board the Rachel Corrie are a group of Irish and Malaysian peace activists, including a Nobel laureate and a former UN official from Ireland.

The ship is carrying medicines, especially for cancer patients, since they cannot leave the country for treatment and is also carrying construction materials, paper, and other supplies.

After the attack on the Freedom Flotilla on May 31, Egypt opened up the Rafah crossing for a controlled number of people.

However, only a handful of people, like patients who are travelling for medical treatment to another country, are allowed to cross the border, the Press TV correspondent in Gaza reported.

He went on to say that the iron barriers Egypt has been constructing on the Gaza border are almost finished.

There were once around 1,500 tunnels through which people brought food, medicine, and fuel into the Gaza Strip, but now, due to the iron barriers, there are only 200 tunnels, he added.

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