Another Gaza showdown is in the offing

(News Today) - The next showdown over Israel's naval blockade of Gaza could come as early as Friday as an Irish-owned ship filled with humanitarian aid steams into the region.

The Rachel Corrie, named for an American activist killed in Gaza several years ago, was expected to arrive late Friday or early Saturday off the coast of Gaza. The vessel left Ireland laden with 550 tons of cement, educational materials, toys and medical equipment -- the latest effort by peace activists to deliver humanitarian goods and break Israel's blockade, according to aid organizers.

Free Gaza Movement activist Derek Graham said that the plan was for the Rachel Corrie to be unloaded in Gaza and then return to Ireland.

The Irish government asked that Israel not interfere.

But an Israeli government official who spoke on background because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue told CNN "the Israeli government is offering to receive the ship's cargo, as it has offered other vessels if it docks at (Israel's) Ashdod port. The Israeli government will unload the cargo, screen it, and deliver it to Gaza."

Q&A: Israel's Gaza blockade

That was the same deal rejected by the flotilla of six ships before Israeli commandos attacked one of them Monday.

Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin told the lower house of the Irish Parliament, the Dail, that he had asked the Israeli ambassador to convey to his government his request that, "following the tragedy which has occurred, the Rachel Corrie be allowed to continue unimpeded, and to deliver its cargo to Gaza."

"We will be watching this situation very closely -- as indeed will the world -- and it is imperative that Israel avoid any action which leads to further bloodshed," the foreign minister said.

More such ships may be on the horizon. The European Campaign to End Siege on Gaza announced Wednesday it has enough money to fund three more ships in a new fleet to Gaza.

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his country's actions that led to the deaths Monday of nine activists aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish boat laden with humanitarian supplies for Gaza.

Netanyahu said the goal of the international flotilla had been to penetrate Israel's blockade of Gaza, which he said was needed to halt the shipment of weapons from Iran to militants in Gaza.

Speaking in a nationally televised address, Netanyahu said the state has the responsibility to stop every vessel bound for Gaza, including the flotilla that was targeted Monday.

How the world reacted to the raid

"That was not a love boat. That was a boat of hatred. It was not a peaceful flotilla. The soldiers who boarded the ships were attacked by clubs, batons and knives."

The Israel Defense Forces Military Advocate General (MAG) -- the body that ensures that the rule of law is upheld within the military -- said in a report that the interception of the Gaza flotilla was legal under international law.

The body said that international law allows for a country to stop a vessel in international waters if it attempts to breach a naval blockade -- even before such a blockade is actually breached.

"If it resists capture and refuses to stop, after prior warning, it may be attacked," MAG said.

Palestinian sources confirmed that trucks that arrived from Israel at the Rafah terminal at the Israel-Gaza border were barred from delivering the aid.

Ra'ed Fatooh, in charge of the crossings, and Jamal Khudari, head of a committee against the Gaza blockade, laid out the following conditions for the aid to be accepted: Israel must release all flotilla detainees -- and representatives of the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla, must deliver it.

Israel had released all foreign flotilla detainees by Wednesday, but four Israeli Arabs remained in custody. Sheikh Raed Salah, one of the four, will be released from Ashkelon prison on Thursday afternoon, several sources close to Salah said. Following his release, Salah will be in house arrest, the sources said. He is the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

Three Turkish Airlines planes carrying 466 activists and nine bodies landed Thursday morning in Istanbul, an official said. Their numbers included several wounded people, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told CNN.

Most of the passengers were Turks, who made up the majority of the activists in the flotilla.

The commando raid that led to the deaths continued to draw international condemnation Wednesday and sparked outrage in the streets of world capitals. Demonstrators also decried Israel's ongoing blockade of Gaza.

"For years, many in the international community have been complicit in a policy that aimed at isolating Gaza in the hope of weakening Hamas," said the International Crisis Group, a think tank that denounced the Israeli action.

"This policy is morally appalling and politically self-defeating. It has harmed the people of Gaza without loosening Hamas' control. Yet it has persisted regardless of evident failure."

Turkish officials were seething. The country's prime minister launched strong rhetoric against the Jewish state -- a onetime close ally -- and its ambassador has been yanked from Tel Aviv.

A U.S. official said Turkey will cancel a trilateral military exercise with the United States and Israel set for August in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Attorneys for a Muslim humanitarian group have filed a petition asking Turkish prosecutors to sue Israel for murder.

The Israeli state attorney general's office, in a response to the High Court on two petitions regarding the flotilla, defended the Israeli actions Wednesday. It said the "Hamas terrorist organization" controls Gaza and is intent on deliberately assaulting civilians.

As a result, Israel has worked to thwart the infiltration of weapons and ordnance from tunnels between Egypt and Gaza and has imposed a naval blockade on Gaza to stop the weapons smuggling.

Source : CNN

Posted in: