JERUSALEM, April 13 (UPI) -- The Israeli military Monday destroyed an unmanned Palestinian fishing boat packed with explosives and found floating off the shore of Gaza, officials said.
The boat, which had been followed by a naval patrol for about an hour, exploded after being hit with artillery fire by the Israeli military, the Israeli Web site Ynetnews.com reported.
Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said commanders believed the boat was booby-trapped and so didn't approach it. When the naval patrol was within 2,000 feet of the Palestinian boat, artillery was fired at it, producing an explosion, Ashkenazi said.
No one was hurt in the blast. The boat was drifting toward Israel and was apparently meant to explode near an Israeli navy vessel or a coastal community, officials told the Web site.
