Israel threatens to attack Libyan aid ship sailing for Gaza

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli government threatened to attack the Libyan aid ship that will be sailing from Greece on Saturday to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Hebrew radio reported that Israel’s envoy to the UN stressed in a letter sent to secretary-general Ban-Ki-moon, the Security Council and the General Assembly that Israel retains to itself the right to prevent the Libyan ship from breaking the naval cordon, alleging that this cordon was imposed on Gaza in line with international law.

The Gaddafi international charity and development foundation said a Moldovan-flagged cargo vessel carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies would set sail from Greece either late Friday or early Saturday.

Libya’s permanent national committee for supporting the Palestinian people also said it would send next Monday the largest land aid convoy to Gaza.

General coordinator of the committee Nuri Bin-Othman noted that the convoy would be composed of 20 large trucks loaded with different kinds of humanitarian aid.

Bin-Othman added that the committee coordinated with the Egyptian Red Crescent to facilitate the entry of the convoy to Gaza.

For its part, the popular committee to end the siege appealed to the Greek authorities to facilitate the sailing of the Libyan aid ship from its ports to Gaza and not respond to Israel’s pressures.

Head of the committee MP Jamal Al-Khudari said that the Libyan ship named „Hope“ would sail in compliance with the international maritime law as well as with the UN resolutions that call for ending Gaza siege.

Khudari pointed out in a press release on Saturday that the Libyan ship would be boarded by civilian activists and wold carry humanitarian aid specified by his popular committee in coordination with Arab Knesset member Ahmed Al-Tibi.

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Gaddafi foundation: „Hope“ still heading toward Gaza

Gaddafi foundation: „Hope“ still heading toward Gaza

[ 11/07/2010 – 08:44 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)– The Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation (GICDF), chaired by Saiful Islam the son of Libyan leader Muammer Al-Gaddafi has denied that the Libyan aid ship „Hope“ was diverting its destination to Egypt instead of Gaza. Yousef Siwan, the executive director of the foundation, said on Saturday night that the GICDF ship was still heading sailing toward Gaza as scheduled. He added that the vessel was on a purely humanitarian mission, „not provocative and not hostile“. Siwan urged the world community to help the ship reach its destination. Arab MK Ahmed Al-Tibi earlier quoted the foundation as saying that the ship would try and reach Gaza port to unload its shipment of relief material. Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras had said that the Libyan ambassador to Athens had told him that the ship would dock at El-Arish port in northern Sinai. The ship departed a port 60 kilometers southeast of Athens at a late hour on Saturday. Israeli navy vessels attacked an international aid flotilla carrying humanitarian and medical equipment to Gaza at international waters on 31 May killing nine Turkish solidarity activists and wounding tens others.