CALL the Israeli Government (numbers below) and demand that it immediately STOP attackingthe civilian population of Gaza and STOP using violence to prevent humanrights and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people.

For more information, please contact:(Cyprus) Lubna Masarwa, +357 97 625 828 (Cyprus) Mary Hughes, +357 99 081 767 (Gaza) Ewa Jasiewicz, +972 598 700 497 freelance@mailworks.org

(Mediterranean Sea, 15 January 2009) - The Israeli navy today threatenedto kill unarmed civilians aboard a mercy ship on its way to delivermedical supplies and doctors to besieged Gaza. The Free Gaza Movement ship, SPIRIT OF HUMANITY, left Cyprus Wednesday morning carrying doctors, journalists, human rights workers, and parliamentarians. The ship also carried over a ton of desperately needed medicines donated by the European Campaign to Break the Siege, intended for overwhelmed hospitals in the Gaza Strip. At the request of the ship’s organizers the passenger list and manifest were publicly released, and Cypriot authorities searched the boat prior to its departure in order to certify that it only carried humanitarian items. The organizers also sent an official notification to the Israeli government of their intent tobreak through the blockade of Gaza.
At roughly 3am UST (1am GMT), in international waters 100 miles off thecoast of Gaza, at least five Israeli gunboats surrounded the SPIRIT OF HUMANITY and began recklessly cutting in front of the slow-moving civiliancraft. The Israeli warships radioed the SPIRIT, demanding that the ship turn around or they would open fire and “shoot.” When asked if the Israeli navy was acknowledging that they intended to commit a war crime by deliberately firing on unarmed civilians, the warships replied that they were prepared to use “any means” to stop the ship. An earlier attempt by Free Gaza to deliver doctors and medical supplies ended on 30 December when Israeli gunboats deliberately and repeatedly rammed the DIGNITY, almost sinking that ship. Rather than endanger thelives of its passengers, the SPIRIT is now returning to Cyprus. Israel's reckless and shocking threats against an unarmed ship on amission of mercy are a violation of both international maritime law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which states that "the high seas should be reserved for peaceful purposes."

Mark Regev in the Prime Minister's office:+972 2670 5354 or +972 5 0620 3264 mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

Shlomo Dror in the Ministry of Defence:+972 3697 5339 or +972 50629 8148 mediasar@mod.gov.il
The Israeli Navy Spokesperson:+ 972 5 781 86248

###The Free Gaza Movement, a human rights group, sent two boats to Gaza inAugust 2008. These were the first international boats to land in the portin 41 years. Since August, four more voyages were successful, takingParliamentarians, human rights workers, and other dignitaries to witnessthe effects of Israel's draconian policies on the civilians of Gaza.http://www.FreeGaza.org