GAZA (PIC)– An Israeli navy gunboat on Wednesday morning deliberately rammed into Olivia an international boat monitoring Israeli violations against Palestinian fishermen in Gaza waters leading to the injury of one Italian observer.
The boat was carrying international observers from Italy and according to them the Israeli naval warship tried to capsize their boat and other boats of Palestinian fishermen.
“”The Israeli navy passed near us and the fishermen and started to go around us creating waves” Rosa Schiano one of the international observers said.
“The fishermen escaped but we couldn’t because of a problem with our engine. We couldn’t move and they went around us very quickly. The Israelis saw that we couldn’t move and that the captain was trying to fix the engine but they didn’t stop. We told them ‘Please stop! Please stop!’ But they did not” Schiano added.
“When the warship was two meters away from the Oliva one of the waves it had created nearly capsized the small boat filling it with water and causing the Italian captain to fall out injuring his left leg” she noted.
“Their intentions were to do something very bad” international observer Daniela Riva said . “Coming so close to us was very dangerous and they obviously knew that.”
The Israeli warship attacked Oliva despite the fact that it did not cross the three-nautical-mile fishing area imposed by occupation.
Olivia boat has been exposed to similar attacks by the Israeli navy since it started its work several months ago.
