THE ISRAELI foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has reiterated his government’s determination to intercept the eight-ship flotilla gathering off Cyprus to sail to Gaza in a bid to break Israel’s blockade of the coastal strip.
Mr Lieberman dubbed the flotilla carrying parliamentarians, human rights workers and prominent figures as “violent propaganda” against Israel, adding that there was no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The flotilla is set to breach the 20-nautical mile exclusion zone imposed by Israel on Gaza tomorrow. It consists of two cargo ships, a three-tier Turkish ferry and four passenger yachts carrying 750 passengers, cement for reconstruction, medicines, dentistry equipment, school supplies, paper, children’s toys and other essential goods.
Among the Irish participants in the mission are Denis Halliday, a former UN assistant secretary general, Nobel laureate Mairéad Maguire, Senator Mark Daly and TDs Chris Andrews and Aengus Ó Snodaigh.
Heddy Epstein (86), a Holocaust survivor, former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Swedish novelist Henning Mankell have also signed on for the voyage.
The organisers have rejected Israel’s offer to dock in the port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, where the goods could be offloaded and transported to the Strip through the crossings operated by Israel.
The Israeli navy has been conducting exercises off the southern coast and has mustered naval commandos to board the ships. If Israel succeeds in detaining the vessels, passengers and crew, they will be housed in tents in Ashdod, processed and deported.
The UN has called on all sides to “act with a sense of care and responsibility” and has also called for an end to Israel’s blockade.
It expressed concern over the “insufficient flow of goods through legitimate crossings to meet basic needs, begin reconstruction and revive economic life” in Gaza.