Israel intercepts Gaza-bound flotilla
ISRAEL HAS BEEN FACING GLOBAL PRESSURE OVER ITS ACTIONS
The Israeli navy was escorting an activist vessel defying its blockade of Gaza to port yesterday after taking it over without the deadly force that marred a similar attempt in 2010.
Among the passengers on the commandeered ship were Tunisia’s former president Munsif Marzouqi and Palestinian Knesset lawmaker Basel Ghattas.
A flotilla of four boats carrying pro-Palestinian activists had been seeking to reach Gaza to highlight the Israeli blockade of the territory that they called “inhumane and illegal.”
Three of the boats were said to have turned back while a fourth, the Marianne of Gothenburg, was boarded by the Israeli navy and was being escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
‘Disgraceful conditions’
The activists’ campaign came as Israel faced heavy international pressure over its actions in Gaza, with a UN report last week accusing the Israeli regime of committing war crimes during its 50-day assault on Gaza last summer.
Organisers of the flotilla said the vessel was a fishing trawler carrying medical equipment and solar panels with 18 people on board, including the Tunisian ex-president.
Israel has imposed its blockade on Gaza since 2006 making life a living hell for Gaza residents who complain they live in an outdoor prison.
A number of flotillas had reached Gaza prior to May 2010, when ten Turkish activists aboard the Mavi Marmara were killed in an Israeli raid on a six-ship flotilla.
Since then, several ships manned by pro-Palestinian activists have tried to reach the shores of Gaza, but they have all been repelled by the Israeli navy.
Critics of the blockade have called for it to be fully lifted to allow reconstruction, warning that without it an ongoing humanitarian crisis could fuel further conflict.
Some “1.8 million Palestinians [are] living in disgraceful, prison-like conditions as a result of Israel’s military siege of both sea and land,” lawmaker Ghattas said in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the flotilla set sail.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition questioned Israel’s version of the operation and said on its website that it had “no reason to believe that Marianne’s capture was ‘uneventful’”.
“We demand that the Israeli government cease and desist the illegal detainment of peaceful civilians travelling in international waters in support of humanitarian aid,” it said.
Organisers of the flotilla said the vessel was a fishing trawler carrying medical equipment and solar panels with 18 people on board, including the Tunisian expresident. Israel has imposed its blockade on Gaza since 2006.
‘Conscience of humanity’
The other three ships had changed their course and were “heading back to their ports of origin,” according to a statement by “Canadian Boat to Gaza,” issued by the activists before the Israeli navy commandeered the Marianne. “We once again call on the government of Israel to finally lift the blockade on Gaza,” the statement said. “Our destination remains the conscience of humanity.”
Netanyahu dismissed the organisers’ goals.
“This flotilla is nothing but a demonstration of hypocrisy and lies that is only assisting the Hamas terrorist organisation and ignores all of the horrors in our region,” he said in a statement.