Wave of support ... the US boat, The Audacity of Hope. Wave of support ... the US boat, The Audacity of Hope.
ISRAELI saboteurs have carried out underwater ''terrorist'' attacks on two ships preparing to challenge the blockade around Gaza, activists claim.
Organisers said Israeli divers cut a piece out of the propeller shaft of the Irish ship MV Saoirse, endangering the lives of 20 activists who planned to be on board.
The vessel, which was docked in Turkey, will not now be able to participate.

They said that the damage appeared identical to that inflicted on Tuesday on another protest vessel, the Greek-Swedish ship Juliano, which is docked in Greece.
''It was pure luck that the damage to the Irish boat was discovered,'' said Ann Wright, a spokesman from The Audacity of Hope, an American activists' boat also docked near Athens.
''The damage to the propeller could have caused the ship to sink and those on board to drown. Quite simply, it was [an] act of terrorism.''
It is a repeat of the damage sustained by ships in last year's attempt to break the blockade. That ended in the storming of the lead ship, the MV Mavi Marmara, by the Israeli navy and the killing of nine Turkish activists.
A renewed attempt to reach Gaza by sea, the Freedom Flotilla 2 of 11 ships with more than 300 activists from 22 countries on board, is due to set sail in the next few days. Israel has pledged to stop them. It is offering to let the flotilla dock at the Israeli port of Ashdod and to escort the aid on board to Gaza by land.
Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said: ''Israel cannot allow unfettered naval access to the Gaza Strip because if we did you would see Iranian missiles reaching Hamas.''
The Foreign Ministry said the sabotage claims were ''baseless''.

http://www.military.com/news/article/senator-wants-us-israeli-op-against-flotilla.html
Excerpt:
While Kirk is pushing for a direct U.S. military role in halting the flotilla, six Democratic congressmen want assurances from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that she will work with Israel to ensure those aboard the American ship are not harmed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Flotilla_II
Excerpt:
The flotilla was publicly opposed by the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Canada, the Middle East Quartet (consisting of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, and the United States), and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. It was publicly supported by the Hamas administration of the Gaza Strip whose leaders asked countries to support the flotilla, saying that the blockade was a crime,[7] and that claims that the blockade had ended were wrong.[citation needed]
Activists on two ships, one in Greece and one in Turkey, found similar damage to their propeller shafts, and claimed that the ships had been sabotaged by Israel.[8] It was reported that the investigation by Turkish authorities on one of the ships determined that there may have been no sabotage at all, and that any damage happened before the boat arrived in Turkey, but these media reports appeared prior to the formal investigation beginning and the Turkish coastguard enquiry has yet to announce its findings. The media reports were disputed by Irish Ship to Gaza, the owner of the vessel.[9][10][11] Greece forbade the vessels from leaving its ports, citing safety concerns,[12] but offered to instead send any humanitarian aid to Gaza in its own vessels, under United Nations supervision. Greece's offer was supported by Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and the United Nations, but rejected by the flotilla activists.[13][14] Subsequently, two flotilla ships, the Audacity of Hope and Tahrir, disobeyed Greece's orders. They were intercepted by the Greek coast guard, brought back to shore, and dozens of activists were arrested. Activists responded by occupying the Spanish embassy in Athens.[15]
Only the French ship Dignité Al Karama managed to approach Gaza. They advised the Greek authorities that their destination was the Egyptian port of Alexandria,[16] and then turned toward Gaza.[17] On July 19, the ship was intercepted and boarded without incident by Israeli commandos and escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod.[18]