Israeli PM threatens new Gaza aid boat

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128999§ionid=351020202


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to halt a boat which is trying to reach the Gaza Strip after Israeli troops attacked an aid convoy earlier this week.

An Irish aid boat, the MV Rachel Corrie, was on course to dock in Gaza at the weekend.

Speaking to top Israeli officials on Thursday, Netanyahu said, "We shall not allow the ships to reach Gaza. Not now and not later on," Israel's Ynet reported.

He also warned that the Israeli forces would direct the Rachel Corrie ship to the Ashdod port.

Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Andy David in an interview with ABC News confirmed the premier's warning, saying that "the Rachel Corrie will not be allowed into Gaza."

The new vessel is trying to break the three-year-long Gaza blockade after the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, consisting of six international ships, was assaulted by the Israeli Navy on Monday.

The attack, which provoked global anger, left at least 20 activists dead and dozens others injured.

The Rachel Corrie is carrying some 750 tons of aid including medical and school supplies, and 15 people including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former UN assistant secretary general Denis Halliday.

The boat is named after Rachel Corrie, a US activist killed in 2003 as she tried to prevent an Israeli military bulldozer from razing a Palestinian home in Rafah.