2nd humanitarian flotilla to set out from Gaza Tuesday
A second humanitarian flotilla set out from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in hopes of breaking an 11-year Israeli blockade on the coastal enclave, a Palestinian NGO said.
“Gaza has proved to the whole world that it does not accept submission despite the continuous blockade,” Hani al-Thawabtah, a member of Gaza’s National Committee for Breaking the Siege, told a press conference in Gaza City.
Israel on Monday imposed fresh sanctions on the blockaded Gaza Strip, including restrictions on the movement of goods and a reduction of the area off Gaza’s coast in which Palestinian fishermen are allowed to ply their trade. According to a statement released by the Israeli army, the Kerem Shalom border crossing will be closed in response to “incendiary kite attacks” by Palestinian activists.Israel says closing Gaza's main trade terminal in anti-Hamas crackdownThe restrictions mean goods entering the territory will face additional bureaucratic hurdles, while the export of locally-manufactured commodities will become more difficult.Humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, will be exempted from the restrictions, although this, too, will still require the army’s approval.The army statement did not say how long the Kerem Shalom crossing, which had served as Gaza’s only functioning commercial crossing, would remain closed.Palestinian activists have been flying incendiary kites and balloons over Israeli territory as part of ongoing popular demonstrations near the Gaza-Israel security fence.Since the demonstrations began on March 30, at least 137 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of basic commodities.
Israel imposes fresh sanctions on blockaded Gaza
Eleven Palestinians are participating in the “Freedom Boat 2” flotilla, including those who had been injured in peaceful protests by Israeli army fire, medical patients and university students.
“Latest Israeli procedures of tightening up the blockade on Gaza will not force Palestinians to give up on Palestine,” al-Thawabtah said.
A Turkish medical delegation on Monday began carrying out surgical operations for Palestinian patients in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital.Over the next six days, members of Doctors Worldwide Turkey, an independent charitable organization, will provide badly-needed medical services at the hospital.The five-doctor delegation consists of an anesthesiologist, two pediatric surgeons and two orthopedic surgeons.The delegation's visit aims to provide medical assistance to the people of Gaza, who continue suffer under an 11-year Israeli blockade that has led to severe shortages of medicine and medical equipment.“Members of the delegation, in cooperation with local doctors, began conducting surgeries today,” Safa Simsek, the organization’s program director, told Anadolu Agency on Monday.The number of patients to receive treatment, he added, “will depend on the nature of treatment required and how much time each patient needs”.
Turkish doctors to provide surgeries in blockaded Gaza
The “Freedom Boat 2” is the second humanitarian flotilla to set out from blockaded Gaza since Palestinians first began holding regular rallies along the Gaza-Israel security fence on Mar. 30.
The NGO urged local and international officials to provide the flotilla and its Palestinian passengers with protection “from any possible Israeli violations”.
The first flotilla set out from Gaza on May 29 carrying Palestinian medical patients -- many of whom were injured during the rallies -- and university students.
A main boat was accompanied by dozens of smaller vessels in a show of defiance against Israel’s crippling blockade.
Israeli naval forces swiftly intercepted and seized the ship, detaining all 17 Palestinian passengers aboard.
While all detained passengers were subsequently released, the ship’s captain, Suheil Muhammad al-Amoudi, remains in Israeli custody until now.
The Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly 2 million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
Since Mar. 30, more than 130 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army gunfire -- and thousands more injured -- while taking part in regular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel security fence.
Demonstrators demand an end to Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land and its ongoing blockade of Gaza, which has brought the strip to the verge of humanitarian catastrophe.