BICOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night convened his security cabinet for briefings from top defence officials regarding the imminent arrival of a naval flotilla attempting to bypass Israeli restrictions to reach the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The government of Israel has made clear that the flotilla will not be permitted to enter Gaza by sea. However, according to Israeli media reports this morning, Israel and Egypt have reached an understanding whereby ships participating in the flotilla will be permitted to unload their cargo at the Egyptian port of El-Arish south of Gaza. The supplies will then be checked and transported to the Gaza Strip by land, where they will enter through the Egyptian-controlled southern entry to the Strip.

 

Israeli officials are confident that there is little likelihood of a repeat of the violent events that marked the arrival of the last flotilla in May 2010. This is primarily because the IHH, the Turkish Islamist organisation that coordinated the previous flotilla, has withdrawn from the current initiative. It was IHH members, on board the Mavi Marmara, who clashed with IDF Naval Commandos, resulting in the deaths of nine flotilla participants.