DUBAI, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Israeli navy opened fire in the direction of a Lebanese vessel heading towards the Gaza Strip on Thursday and assaulted some of the people on board the ship carrying humanitarian aid, Al Jazeera television reported. The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the incident. "They (Israeli navy) are opening fire towards the vessel ... there are Israeli soldiers who have actually boarded the vessel," said Salam Khoder, an Al Jazeera correspondent on board the ship. "Three of them are pointing their weapons at us ... They are beating those on the vessel, they are beating and kicking us," Khoder said in a frantic voice before the telephone interview was terminated. Jazeera said attempts to re-establish contact with Khoder had failed. It did not say how many people were on board the boat. The boat was carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip where thousands of people were left homeless after Israel's 22-day offensive, which ended on Jan. 18, during which about 1,300 Palestinians were killed and hundreds of houses destroyed. The aid on board the ship came from mainly Lebanese and Arab charities. The shipment was organised by the Palestinian National Committee Against the Siege in cooperation with the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement. In December, the Israeli navy clashed with a small boat, Dignity, carrying international activists with aid for Gaza and forced it to divert to Lebanon's waters. Israel declared the Gaza coastal territory a closed military zone after it started the offensive on Dec. 27 to stop Palestinian militant group Hamas firing rockets at Israeli towns and settlements. Hamas defeated Fatah forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 leaving the Fatah faction controlling the West Bank. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem) (Reporting by Inal Ersan; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Izz el-Deen Aboul Aish, a Palestinian doctor who worked in one of Israel's main hospitals, speaks to the media in Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv in this January 17, 2009 ...
