BRUSSELS, June 16, (Agencies): A Turkish pro-Palestinian group said on Wednesday it will send another aid flotilla to Gaza next month, again trying to break an Israeli blockade after its last convoy was the target of a deadly Israeli raid in May.
The Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Aid (IHH) told members of the European Parliament it had assembled six ships for the next flotilla and put out an appeal for others to join.
Its last flotilla was intercepted off the coast of Gaza on May 31. Clashes broke out on one of the ships as Israeli commandos boarded it to enforce a blockade, and in fighting that followed Israeli forces shot dead nine Turkish men.
The next flotilla is due to sail in the second half of July, IHH said. The group invited the international media to inspect all goods on board before the convoy sails to “demonstrate their commitment to total transparency”.
Israel says the IHH has links to Muslim militants, which the group denies.
Richard Howitt, a British member of the European Parliament who organised IHH’s press conference at the parliament in Strasbourg, said the European Union had an obligation to ensure respect for humanitarian law and access for the next flotilla.
“If this terrible tragedy tips the balance so that the international community finally insists on full and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza, then some good can still come out of it,” he said, referring to the deaths in the last convoy.
Israel has said it is considering softening its blockade in the wake of international condemnation of the flotilla assault. The EU said on Monday it hoped the easing would begin “in the next days”.
The EU says Israel’s probe into the deadly raid on the flotilla trying to break the blockade of Gaza is “a step forward” but that otherwise it is reserving judgment for now.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton told European lawmakers on Wednesday that the May 31 naval attack in which nine unarmed activists were killed was “unacceptable.”
She describes Israel’s decision to set up an independent commission as a “step forward,” but notes that the EU will follow the work of the panel “before drawing further conclusions.”
Turkey says it has formed a committee to look into Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship.
The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday the panel headed by the foreign and justice ministers will “assess the national and international dimensions” of the raid and prepare the ground for a possible international investigation.
It says the committee, which includes maritime officials, has met twice since it was formed Monday.
Eight Turks and one Turkish American were killed in the May 31 raid on the flotilla intending to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza. Israel says its naval commandos were acting in self-defense after being attacked by pro-Palestinian activists.
Israel has set up a commission to investigate the raid. Turkey wants an international probe.
A participant says Israel’s Security Cabinet has ended its session without a decision on easing the blockade of Gaza.
Officials said earlier Wednesday the Cabinet would likely ease the land blockade of the Palestinian territory to try to blunt international condemnation over Israel’s deadly raid on a blockade-busting flotilla.
The Cabinet was considering allowing some currently banned goods into Gaza. But Israel is expected to maintain its naval blockade, which it says is needed to keep weapons from Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.
A meeting participant said the Security Cabinet would meet again Thursday, and a decision was expected. The participant and the Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was closed.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon remains hopeful that Israel will accept his proposal for an international probe of the deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, his press office said Tuesday.
“He remains hopeful that his proposal will be accepted by Israel,” Farhan Haq, a UN spokesman said.
Israel has said it is setting up its own three-member enquiry panel to look into the May 31 raid which left nine Turkish pro-Palestinians activists dead.
The Israeli commission will include two international observers: Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble, and Ken Watkin, former judge advocate general of the Canadian military.
But Ankara swiftly said Israel was incapable of being “impartial,” and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said setting up an internal committee did not comply with the demand by the UN Security Council for a “credible, impartial” investigation.
Asked about reports that the Jewish state had rejected Ban’s initiative, Haq reiterated that the UN secretary general views his proposal as complementary to the Israeli plan.
EU naval mission
The EU may send a naval mission towards Gaza to help control the transit of goods if Israel lifts its blockade of the Palestian territory, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief said Wednesday.
Catherine Ashton said there may be a “maritime option for a CSDP (Common Defence and Security Defence Policy) mission,” adding however that such an option would be “more complex” than helping monitor land crossings into Gaza.
Israel has come under increased pressure to lift its blockade, which has been in place since 2007, after a commando raid on an aid flotilla bringing aid for the Gaza Strip last month left nine Turkish activists dead.
British peer Ashton, who visited Gaza earlier this year, stressed that “what happened on the seas outside Gaza was unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, Turkey has set up a committee to study the consequences of Israel’s deadly raid on an aid flotilla which left nine Turks dead, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
The committee, bringing together the ministries of justice and foreign affairs as well as the maritime undersecretariat, was set up on orders of the cabinet, it said in a statement.
The committee will “evaluate the legal dimensions of the attack under national and international law” and prepare for a possible international inquiry, the statement added, without further details.