Reported explosion on "Gaza Ark" stunt boat

"Gaza Ark" is a planned stunt where instead of attempting to send boats to Gaza, Israel-haters are planning to sail a boat from Gaza, where Israel can enforce its legal naval blockade and stop them. They hope to get lots of media attention.

This morning, they say, there was a "mysterious explosion" on their boat:

At 3:45 AM Gaza time on April 29th, the night guard on board Gaza's Ark received a call to leave the boat because it was going to be attacked.

The guard left, but when nothing happened, he returned after 5 minutes. A few minutes later, a large explosion rocked the boat causing extensive damage.

The boat sank part way and is now sitting on the shallow sea floor. The guard was not injured but was taken to hospital for tests.

Mahfouz Kabariti, Gaza’s Ark Project Manager, says: “The extent and nature of the damage are currently being investigated. We will provide an update when available.”

"Gaza’s Ark and all our partners in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition are considering our next move in response to this cowardly act of terrorism, but our position remains clear: Neither this nor any other attack will stop our efforts to challenge the blockade of Gaza until it ends," adds David Heap of Gaza's Ark Steering Committee.

"Freedom Flotilla boats have been sabotaged before. This attack comes as we were almost ready to sail. You can sink a boat but you can't sink a movement," concludes Ehab Lotayef, another member of the Steering Committee.

Given that the people behind this stunt are accomplished liars, the story cannot be taken at face value. The photo above is very high resolution but I see no evidence of smoke or fire. It seems strange to hire a guard to protect a boat and have that guard leave his post from a phone call. It seems doubly strange that the guard would remove himself so far away so as not to notice someone planting explosives.

For Israel to have done this suggests an extensive operation - a silent Israeli boat, frogmen with underwater explosives - where the target is not worth it and there was no guarantee the guard would leave after a mere phone call. (Of course, Israel haters assume that the all-powerful Mossad did it.)

I can imagine the flotidiots ticking off Gaza groups but it still seems unlikely that they would attack the boat in this manner - they would do it in broad daylight.

Perhaps the guard accidentally did something stupid and created this story as a coverup. Or perhaps the flotidiots - who have not reached their fundraising goal of $300,000 to refurbish the boat - made the whole thing up when the boat sank on its own.