Devon doctor aboard Gaza aid boat

Mr Halpin only left Britain to join the ship on Monday morning

A retired Devon surgeon was on board a ship which was confronted by the Israeli navy while trying to deliver medical supplies to the Gaza strip.

David Halpin, from Haytor, was one of a number of activists aboard the Dignity, an aid ship operated by the organisation Free Gaza.

The group said the vessel was rammed and shot at by an Israeli boat after they ignored warnings to turn back.

But the Israeli navy said the Dignity had collided with its boat.

Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the aid boat had failed to respond to radio contact. He denied there had been any shooting.

It is amazing they didn't drown, it could have been much worse Sue Halpin

The clash happened earlier in international waters 45 miles (70km) off the Israeli coast.

The 20m (66ft) Dignity, which is carrying 3.5 tonnes of medical aid, was damaged in the collision and was unable to return to Cyprus, where it set off from.

Instead the vessel, with 16 people on board, sailed to the Lebanese port of Tyre, where Free Gaza said it was looking for another ship to sail to Gaza.

Mr Halpin's wife Sue told BBC News she had finally heard from her husband after a number of hours without contact.

"He said it is amazing they didn't drown, it could have been much worse," she said.

"He is feeling very tired and relieved to be back on dry land.

Last-minute mission

"Most of the people on board were in their bunks when the incident began."

She said her 68-year-old husband had only decided to take part in the aid mission a couple of days ago when he heard about the situation in Gaza.

"We were having dinner on Sunday and he just felt it was no good sitting around writing about what was going on, he wanted to be more hands on," she said.

"We just scrabbled some things together and off he went on Monday morning."

Mr Halpin, who used to work at Torbay hospital in Torquay and the former Princess Elizabeth orthopaedic hospital in Exeter, has taken part in a number of similar aid missions before and runs the Devon-based Dove and Dolphin charity, which distributes aid to Palestinians within Gaza.

Israel declared the Gaza coastal area a closed military zone after it launched air attacks on Hamas targets on Saturday.