WRAPUP 2-Israel prepares to intercept Gaza-bound ship

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Fri Jun 4, 2010 7:33pm EDT

* Foreign minister says no ship will be allowed into Gaza

* Ireland says activists prepared to accept inspection

* Report says nine dead activists were shot 30 times

(Adds White House saying blockade unsustainable)

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM, June 5 (Reuters) - Israel was prepared to intercept another ship bound for Gaza carrying aid and activists on Saturday, increasing fears of more international tension over its blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

Israel faces an international outcry after its naval operation on Monday in which nine Turkish activists were killed on a ship bound for Gaza.

Israel says its blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after Hamas seized the territory from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, is meant to prevent arms and military supplies from reaching the territory's Hamas rulers.

In Washington, the White House said Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable but urged the Gaza aid vessel to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence.

"We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said on Friday.

"The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement.

The Irish-owned Rachel Corrie -- a converted merchant vessel bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003 -- pressed on despite the earlier ship's violent interception.

One of the activists on board, Irishman Denis Halliday, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general, told Irish radio on Friday they expected to reach the Israeli-imposed exclusion zone overnight and aimed to continue towards Gaza in daylight.

On Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza."

The Israeli military declined to give prior details of what it planned to do in the event the navy had to intervene.

In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said in a statement: "Those on board the Rachel Corrie have indicated that they are ready to accept inspection of their cargo at sea, prior to docking in Gaza."

GUNSHOTS AT CLOSE RANGE

Autopsy results on the nine dead Turkish activists from Monday's raid showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close range, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said.

Turkish-American activist Fulkan Dogan was shot five times from less than 45 cm (18 inches) away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the paper said. In addition to those killed, 48 others received gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing. In his angriest rhetoric yet, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the Jewish state on Friday of violating its own biblical commandments.

"I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?" Erdogan said in a televised speech to party supporters.

"I'll say again. I say in English 'you shall not kill'. Did you still not understand?. So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh'."

Turkey, Israel's only Muslim ally, has threatened to rethink its entire relationship. Thousands of protesters sang Turkey's praises at demonstrations in Egypt and Lebanon on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a forum of senior ministers on Friday to discuss the arrival of the Rachel Corrie and actions to be taken following the international criticism Israel faced after Monday's events.

A foreign ministry statement said Israel wanted to avoid confrontation and invited the Rachel Corrie to dock in Israel's own port of Ashdod, where its cargo could be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza if it contains no contraband.

"We in Israel have no desire for confrontation ... If the ship decides to sail to the port of Ashdod in Israel then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it," foreign ministry official Yossi Gal said.

"Israel is prepared to receive the ship and to offload its contents and after an inspection to ensure that no weapons and/or war materiel are on board, we are prepared to deliver all of the goods to Gaza."

(Additional reporting by Andras Gergely in Dublin, Ibon Villelabeitia in Ankara and Alister Bull in Washington; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Comments (5)
GodisRight wrote:
A flotilla tried to deliver supplies for half-million Jews imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto but were denied entry, they were trapped and all killed. The flotilla also tried to prevent Armenian exterminations but the mere mention of that resulted in beatings in Turkish jails, and helping Kurdistan not allowed. The Chinese government doesn’t allow activists anywhere near Tibet or they could be imprisoned and their organs harvested. Sailing to stop apartheid, where Europeans were taking land and water for settlements while professing to seek peace, the flotilla arrived late but a South African Judge said they might find a similar situation in the Holy Land, lucky for him there’s no death fatwah in the Jewish religion unless you’re on Mossad’s assassination list. Hearing of Gaza Strip, an outdoor prison population with no building supplies or educational materials allowed in to rebuild the terrorist infrastructure, they asked why Jews were imprisoning populations, had they forgotten the Warsaw ghetto? They were also amazed that Israel and Egypt could cooperate so well on something, even if it was keeping the prison firmly shut. But the flotilla was not permitted to reach Gaza, and then Hamas refused the aid anyway and was adamant about the destruction of what they called the Zionist Entity. Putin and Chavez offered help with strengthening democratic institutions, Ahmajinedad offered vote-counting expertise and peaceful nuclear weapons. The USA continued its role as impartial mediator and gave the partners for peace another chance to accept the Netanyahu/AIPAC terms in the same railway car as the 1918 Versailles treaty to end all wars, but the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity to have their own Bantustan. So in the end we were forced to give Israel more phosphorous and cluster bombs for defense against dangerous civilian populations, forgetting about their own Irgun terrorists and prime ministers, apparently the war on terror hadn’t started back then. It seems there are hypocrites on many sides.

Jun 04, 2010 7:58pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
1realamerican wrote:
time for nato and the united nations to escort these ships to gaza, this is what they are there for to enforce international laws, which israel is breaking everyday.

Jun 04, 2010 10:24pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
1realamerican wrote:
Hamas officials on Wednesday refused to allow into the Gaza Strip 21 truckloads of humanitarian aid that had been offloaded from the Gaza-bound flotilla ships currently docked at Ashdod Port, until “ALL” of those detained in Monday’s naval raid were released.
israel still holding 125 activists hostage.

Jun 04, 2010 10:42pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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