Israel damages Gaza aid boat, Cypriot doctors, crew safe

An Israeli naval ship clashed on Tuesday with a small boat carrying international activists with aid destined for Gaza, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
There were no reported casualties from the incident involving the small cabin cruiser "Dignity" that sailed from Cyprus late on Monday.
“The boat was hit on its left side by the Israelis,” Katia Christodoulou, CNA photographer and member of the delegation, told CNA on Tuesday morning.
“There is a problem with the fuel. We are trying to head to Lebanon, to Sidon. We are fine,” she said.
Christodoulou added that there are three or four Israeli warships in the area and that ''we were hit in international waters.''
''They are trying to turn us round to return. We do not see this happening. We are probably going to Lebanon. We are all alright,'' she said.
Eleni Theocharous, Cyprus MP and a volunteer for doctors without borders is heading the delegation. Theocharous told state-run broadcaster CyBC that she and the rest of the crew are safe, for now.
For the time being there are no means of communication through mobile telephony to or from the passengers on board the boat and the communication with CNA was achieved through an international television channel satellite connection.
Israel has declared the coastal territory a closed military zone and said the Free Gaza Movement boat would not be permitted to dock.
Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said the boat failed to respond to Israeli naval radio contact, and that an Israeli vessel "clashed with the ship."
Free Gaza Movement told Reuters their boat, carrying 3 1/2 tonnes of medical aid with 16 people aboard, was rammed and shot at while in international waters about 70-80 miles off Gaza by Israeli naval vessel.
Palmor denied there had been any shooting although the two ships made "physical contact." He said no one had been hurt and that the Israeli ship escorted the aid boat back to Cypriot territorial waters.
Israel has declared areas around the Gaza Strip a "closed military zone" after it launched an aerial offensive in the coastal territory on Hamas targets on Saturday, in which 345 Palestinians have been killed.