[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Hamas made a mistake when they mentioned MAAN in
their item that claimed that boat had no explosives.

A quick check of the MAAN website finds:

"Others in Gaza earlier said they had heard a "massive explosion" out at
sea, but did not immediately know the cause.
the Palestinian MAAN news agency Date: 13 / 04 / 2009 Time: 11:10
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=37085

Oops.]

Gaza fishing boat was not booby-trapped
14 April 2008 Website of "Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades" - the armed branch
of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
www.alqassam.ps/english/?action=showdetail&fid=1622

Agencies - The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry in Gaza slammed on Tuesday
Zionist allegations that Palestinians attempted to attack an Zionist warship
using an explosive-laden fishing boat on Monday morning.

The ministry said in a statement that Israel's account of Monday's events
was "trumped up story aimed at escalating aggression against fishermen" and
"an excuse for piracy and destruction."

The Agriculture Ministry said it has spoken with eyewitnesses who said the
boat contained no explosives, and that it exploded only when an Zionist
warship shelled it.

The Zionist military's Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi, maintained the
Zionist version of events saying, "The fishing boat that was identified this
morning by Israel Navy boats was booby-trapped with hundreds of kilograms of
explosives."

"We assume that this was an attempt to attack one of the Israel Navy boats,
an attempt that fortunately was not successful, thanks to the soldiers
correctly implementing the regulations," said Ashkenazi.

Witnesses told Ma'an that warships renewed their shelling on Tuesday
morning, firing heavy barrages of missiles and shells at fishing boats in
the As-Sudaniya area of the northern Gaza Strip. No one was injured.

The Agriculture Ministry also alleged that the Zionist navy has escalated
its harassment of fishing industry workers this season, and had recently
seized dozens of
fishermen in an attempt to recruit them as collaborators.

Zionist gunboats fire on Gazan fisherman daily, barring them from fishing
more than a few hundred meters from shore. Gaza's fishing industry has all
but collapsed because of the naval blockade