Israel: Flotillas aim to get weapons to Gaza

MARK LAVIE The Washington Post 06/23/2010 15:36

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory.

Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea. He said Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah, enemies of Israel, are behind the new efforts to send boats.

On May 31, Israeli naval commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, setting off a world outcry and forcing Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade.

Lebanon warned Wednesday that it would hold Israel responsible for any further attacks on blockade-busting ships.

Netanyahu said his government is drawing up a list of weapons and items with military uses that will not be allowed into Gaza "so that we can permit all the rest."

He said the new list will be made public "in the coming days."

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