IDF naval fighters board the Swedish Marianne vessel that was attempting to break the blockade on Gaza. No injuries reported
IDF naval fighters early on Monday morning boarded the Swedish ship Marianne that was taking part in the latest flotilla trying to violate Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza.
The troops took control of the ship and will take it to the Ashdod Port where its contents will be inspected. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said the takeover process was short and there were no injuries on either side.
“According to the decision of the political echelon, and after exhausting all diplomatic channels to prevent the Marianne vessel from reaching the coast of the Gaza Strip and violating the naval blockade, navy fighters took over the vessel a short time ago before its arrival in Gaza,” the statement said.
“The action was taken after a large number of requests to the passengers on the vessel. Once the passengers clarified that they would not cooperate and proceed to the Ashdod Port, it was decided to take over the vessel and sail it to the Ashdod port.”
The so-called “Freedom Flotilla 3”, which set sail from Crete on Friday, has been backed by the European Campaign to Break the Siege on Gaza. Members of the European Parliament, journalists, athletes, artists, as well as radical leftist Israelis will be on board.
The flotilla was the latest in a series of attempts by activists to break the naval blockade on Gaza, imposed by Israel after Hamas violently took control of Gaza from rival Fatah in 2006.
The most famous of the flotillas was the 2010 one involving the Turkish Mavi Marmara, which claimed to be providing "humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza."
The ship repeatedly defied orders to turn around and dock at the Ashdod port and ignored repeated warnings to change course, forcing IDF troops to board the vessel - only to be attacked by Islamist extremists on board wielding knives and metal bars. The wounded soldiers had no choice but to open fire, resulting in the deaths of ten of Islamists on board.
After an investigation, Israeli authorities discovered the vessel to be carrying no humanitarian aid - in fact, no aid supplies at all - indicating how the true goal of the provocative move was to open Gaza to free naval access, which it has consistently used to smuggle in weapons to be targeted against Israel.
Hours before the takeover of the Marianne, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter to the members of the flotilla, in which he told them that they apparently “got lost."
“Welcome to Israel, but if it's freedom you have in mind, maybe you meant to sail to another destination not far from here – Syria. There, the government is murdering and slaughtering its citizens daily, with the support of Iran,” the letter said.
The letter listed the large amount of medical and other humanitarian aid Israel has shipped in recent months to Gaza. “If you are really interested in human rights, you would not sail to identify with a government that kills people without trial in Gaza, that tries to injure innocent civilians. Despite their attempts to hurt Israelis, we have been allowing over 800 trucks a day to enter Gaza, bringing in 1.6 million tons of goods. Those trucks contain about 500,000 more times worth of goods than the ships you have arrived in.”
The letter stressed that there is no blockade on Gaza, and that if the passengers want, they can send any humanitarian aid they wish via Israel. “With that we are not prepared to allow the entry of weapons material to terror groups, as has been done by sea in the past. These restrictions are in accordance with international law, and have been backed by a special United Nations panel.
And I say
Chickenshits wont sail to Syria, will they? They like keeping their heads on their hippocritic necks?
