EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — A Libyan ship carrying aid for the
impoverished Gaza Strip docked at an Egyptian port on Thursday
after Israel’s navy stopped it from reaching the blockaded
Palestinian territory.

The director of the port of el-Arish, Gamal Abdel Maqsoud, said
the diverted ship will unload its cargo and transfer it to the Red
Crescent for delivery to Gaza by land across the Egyptian
border.

A day earlier, Israeli missile ships stopped the aid vessel from
reaching Hamas-ruled Gaza. Israel imposed the blockade after the
Islamic militant and anti-Israel Hamas violently overran the
territory in June 2007.

The standoff between Israel’s navy and the crew of the aid
vessel, the Amalthea, followed a botched Israeli raid on a similar
Gaza-bound ship in May in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were
killed.

The international criticism over that raid forced Israel to ease
its land blockade of the territory but it has maintained the naval
embargo, insisting it is vital to keep weapons out of Hamas’
hands.

Restrictions remain on materials like cement and steel that
Israel says could be used for military purposes. Critics of the
blockade say it has failed to weaken Hamas while driving Gaza’s 1.5
million people deeper into poverty.

The Gadhafi foundation, headed by the son of Libyan leader
Moammar Gadhafi, said the aid ship left Greece on Saturday carrying
2,000 tons of food and medical supplies.