BICOM

A small boat, originally part of the larger flotilla scheduled to depart last month, was able to leave Greece yesterday for Gaza. According to reports, the boat crew lied to Greek authorities before departing the small island of Kastellorizo, telling them they were heading for Alexandria. Its passengers now claim that they plan to contravene the Israeli maritime blockade as early as today, and sail on to Gaza. 

On board the Karameh (“dignity” or “respect” in Arabic) are 16 passengers composed of French and Canadian citizens, journalists from Al-Jazeera and one Israeli journalist. Yesterday the spokeswoman of the group announced that the Karemeh was on its way to Gaza and approaching its destination. She added that the voyage’s only goal was to make a “political statement.”

 

Government sources in Israel confirmed that the Karemeh was expected to arrive in the region this afternoon. The IDF refrained from directly addressing the possibility that the ship would reach Gaza’s shores and merely reiterated the Israeli position that the blockade on Gaza would continue to be firmly enforced.