JERUSALEM — A Gaza-bound aid ship was just a few dozen miles from the blockaded Palestinian territory early today and was being tailed by three Israeli naval boats, a pro-Palestinian activist told The Associated Press.
The activists’ latest attempt to crack the blockade will test Israel’s resolve as it faces a wave of international outrage over its deadly takeover of another aid ship this week.
Activists on board the Irish boat, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan, insisted they would not resist if Israeli soldiers tried to take over their vessel. They said they expected the 1,200-ton Rachel Corrie to reach Gaza by late this morning.
If Israeli forces come aboard, “we will sit down,” Corrigan said in a telephone interview. “They will probably arrest us . . . but there will be no resistance.”
Diplomatic fallout and protests across Europe and the Muslim world have increased pressure to end the embargo Israel imposed after the Islamic militant Hamas group seized power in Gaza three years ago. The blockade has plunged the territory’s 1.5 million residents deeper into poverty and sharply raised Mideast tensions as the U.S. makes a new push for regional peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Thursday that the Irish boat would not be allowed to reach Gaza. On Friday, Israel’s foreign minister said the policy had not changed.
The Cambodian-flagged Rachel Corrie — named for an American college student who was crushed to death by a bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli home demolitions in Gaza — was carrying hundreds of tons of aid, including wheelchairs, medical supplies and cement.
This latest attempt to breach the blockade differs significantly from the flotilla the Israeli troops intercepted Monday, killing eight Turks and an American after being set upon by a group of activists.
Nearly 700 activists had joined that operation, most of them aboard the lead boat from Turkey that was the scene of the violence.
That boat, the Mavi Marmara, was sponsored by an Islamic aid group from Turkey, the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedom and Humanitarian Relief. Israel outlawed the group, known by its Turkish acronym IHH, in 2008 because of alleged ties to Hamas.
By contrast, the Rachel Corrie was carrying 11 passengers, whose effort was mainly sponsored by the Free Gaza movement, a Cyprus-based group that has renounced violence.
