Gaza’s naval blockade, if attempted to be broken by a new flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists, will lead to the Israeli military using force to quell their actions, Israel warned on Thursday.
Last year, a flotilla of pro-Palestinian activists sought to break the naval blockade of Gaza, which led to Israeli commandos killing nine people, reports The New York Times.
“We will do anything we have to do to prevent a boat from breaking the blockade,” a top naval official said in a briefing for foreign journalists.
“If there is the same violence against our forces on board, there is a pretty good chance there will be injuries,” the official said.
The naval official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with Israeli military rules, The NY Times reports.
The military’s chief spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, made a similar point on Israel Radio on Thursday, saying the army would stop any ship from entering Gaza.
Mordechai added, “There is an unequivocal directive from the government to enforce the naval blockade that is recognized by international law, and we will not allow it to be broken.”
The statements seemed part of a greater effort to stop another flotilla and to explain Israel’s position in advance of violence ensuing.
Groups of Palestinian advocates in chartered vessels are scheduled to depart from a number of European ports this month, reports The NY Times.
They will then assemble into a flotilla heading toward Gaza to both challenge Israel’s blockade and commemorate the deaths of a year ago.
Among those expected to participate is an American vessel with several dozen passengers, including the writer Alice Walker and an 86-year-old whose parents died in the Holocaust.
It remained unclear whether the ship on which last year’s deaths occurred, the Mavi Marmara of Turkey, would join the flotilla as originally planned.
This is because of a combination of insurance difficulties and political pressure.
Israel, widely condemned for the operation, argued that last year’s ship had been dominated by a group of extremists who created the confrontations that resulted in the deaths.
A number of world leaders have urged the flotilla organizers to abandon their plans or to wait and see how Gaza fares under recent changes in Egyptian and Israeli policies, The NY Times reports.
The leaders include Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, and Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister of Turkey.
