Gaza flotilla welcomes UN encouragement

Ma'an
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition welcomed the statements of UNRWA Secretary-General John Ging on Wednesday, calling it a move that "recognizes the responsibility of the international community to oppose the illegal blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza."

...... a convoy of ships would depart from several corners of the Mediterranean and gather in international waters with the intent to deliver some 5,000 tons of building and medical supply to the population under siege.

According to the flotilla organizers, 600 activists will sail three cargo ships and five passenger boats for Gaza in what a statement called the "biggest internationally coordinated effort to directly challenge Israeli's ongoing occupation, aggression, and violence against the Palestinian people."

........Though Palestinians agreed to a 20 nautical mile fishing limit under the Oslo Accords in 1993, Israel has imposed smaller and smaller limits on Gaza fishermen, with the most recent a unilaterally imposed 3-mile limit.

Under successive stages of Oslo, the Gaza Strip was set to make operational its international Mediterranean port, and an airport in Rafah. The port construction was never completed due to the materials blockade and lack of funding following the 2006 Hamas take over, and the airport was destroyed in a 2002 Israeli airstrike.

Israel has controlled Gaza waters since its takeover of the area in 1967, and has kept several warships stationed off the coast since 2008.

The last time an aid vessel attempted to enter Gaza waters, on 5 February 2009, Israeli warships rammed the vessel and towed it to shore in Ashkelon.  [The aid vessel also contained former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was illegally held by Israel for several days.]  Full story