ISRAELI NAVY OPENS FIRE ON GAZA AID FLOTILLA

PanARMENIAN.Net
May 31, 2010 – 12:26 AMT 07:26 GMT

Israel navy troops opened fire on pro-Palestinian activists aboard a
six-ship aid flotilla sailing for the Gaza Strip, killing two of them
and wounding 30 others, after the activists ignored Israeli orders
to turn back.

The Israeli naval vessels reportedly made contact earlier with the
six-ship flotilla, which is carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid
and supplies to Gaza.

The Israeli navy was operating under the assumption that the activists
manning the boats would not heed their calls to turn around, and
Israeli troops were prepared to board the ships and steer them away
from the Gaza shores and toward the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger
ships, is trying to draw attention to Israel’s three-year blockade
of the Gaza Strip. The boats are carrying items that Israel bars from
reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials.

The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered
wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship
in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.

Israel has let ships through five times, but has blocked them from
entering Gaza waters since the three-week military offensive against
Gaza’s Hamas rulers in January 2009. The flotilla bound for Gaza is
the largest to date, Haaretz reported.

From: A. Papazian