| Submit your comments on this article |
| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Israel warning as Libya aid boat eyes Gaza landing |
| 2010-07-12 |
| Israel on Sunday vowed to prevent a Libyan aid ship from running the Gaza blockade after it appeared to be heading for the besieged enclave despite a flurry of diplomatic efforts to divert it to Egypt. ‘Israel will not let the boat reach Gaza,’ minister without portfolio Yossi Peled told Israel’s public radio a day after the 92-metre (302-foot) freighter Amalthea set sail from the Greek port of Lavrio, south of Athens. Allowing vessels to reach the Hamas-run Gaza Strip without being checked would have ‘very serious consequences’ for Israel’s security, he said. There was confusion over the ship’s destination on Sunday — with organisers saying it was staying the course for Gaza, despite diplomatic reassurances from Greece that it was headed for the Egyptian port of El-Arish. ‘We are heading for Gaza. We will not change direction,’ Mashallah Zwei, a representative of the Kadhafi Foundation, a Libyan charity, told AFP by satellite phone from on board the Amalthea. He insisted the foundation was not seeking ‘a confrontation or a provocation,’ when asked about the risks of a repeat of an Israeli naval raid on an aid flotilla on May 31 that killed nine Turks. Zwei said the ship was currently ‘close to Crete’ and would likely reach Gaza in about two days. Israel’s Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the attempt to reach Gaza, which has been subjected to an Israeli naval blockade for the past four years, was an ‘unnecessary provocation.’ ‘The goods can be transferred to the Gaza Strip through Ashdod port after being checked,’ a statement from his office said late on Saturday. ‘However, we will not allow the entry of arms, weapons or anything which will support fighting into Gaza. We recommend that the organisers either let the ship be escorted by navy vessels to Ashdod port (in southern Israel) or that is sails directly to the port of El-Arish’ in Egypt. Barak’s office had earlier said the defence minister spoke with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and asked ‘if Egypt would agree to accept the boat at the port of El-Arish.’ It was not immediately clear if Egypt had acceded to Barak’s request but the ship’s agent and the Greek foreign ministry had on Saturday assured Israel that the Moldova-flagged vessel, chartered by a charity linked to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, was heading for El-Arish. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 Maybe it's time to stop playing Muzzi/Tranzi game. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2010-07-12 16:17 |
| #5 The IDF Navy may, if the ship approaches Gaza, disable the propeller this time. In retrospect, this should arguably have been done with the Mavi Marmara ship. A ship as big as the Amalthea will then take several days to be towed to port. |
| Posted by: lord garth 2010-07-12 07:39 |
| #4 Kim Il Jong would know how to handle this. Juche for the Jews. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2010-07-12 07:10 |
| #3 The Greek downward spiral continues... |
| Posted by: American Delight 2010-07-12 05:50 |
| #2 My thoughts exactly, Scooter. With the inshallah maintenance they have in most Muslim countries, and all the reefs and other underwater hazards near Gaza, it just could happen. A fire could break out in the engine room, or something could rip the bottom of the ship out. Happens all the time. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2010-07-12 01:45 |
| #1 Be a real shame if the vessel mysteriously explodes. Or sinks with all hands. Either way, it will be a shame. A real bummer. Yep. |
| Posted by: Scooter McGruder 2010-07-12 00:50 |