UN-Truth

A Libyan-chartered Greek ship flying the Moldovan flag and carrying 2,000 tons of food and medical supplies destined for Gaza has reportedly developed mechanical problems [in the engine? with communications devices?] overnight as it approached its declared destination of the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

Israeli warships are reportedly tracking the Amalthea. The Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak earlier called this expedition “provocative”. Israeli military officials say that the cargo this ship is carrying is redundant, because these materials are now entering Gaza relatively freely via Israeli-controlled crossings. However, there are still logistical limitations.

Although Israeli officials continue to be suspicious about the ship — and there have been contradictory claims about the intended destination coming from various people involved with the Libyan aid group that hired the ship and from some of their supporters — they say that as things appear at the moment there does not appear to be any security threat involved. However, they say, they are watching, and will be taking no chances.

The Amalthea appears to have turned off its transponder in recent hours… Or, according to some reports, the ship’s communications are being jammed, and the ship is surrounded by 8 Israeli warships.

Interesting — on the Live Ships map at the Marine Traffic website here, there are now NO ships at all shown from the Suez canal up to Beirut — how is that possible?

UPDATE: At about 10:30 this morning Jerusalem time, SMS reports from Israeli sources indicate that the Amalthea has begun to move toward Egypt…

UPDATE TWO: By about noon in Jerusalem, the Amalthea was back on the Live Ships map, and moving in the direction of El-Arish. It is now 32 nautical miles away from the Egyptian port in the northern Sinai, not far from the Rafah crossing in and out of Gaza — about 4 hours away, at the ship’s present speed of 7.5 knots…

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA] website has a post citing “A report published by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center [that] claims that the sole mission of the Libyan foundation responsible for sending out this ship to Gaza is to ‘break the siege’. According to the published findings, the Libyans intend to pressure Israel to agree to allow the entrance of goods into the Gaza Strip according to the ‘rules of the game’ determined by Hamas. In addition, the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report shows that there are political considerations behind the Libya-sponsored flotilla, as Libya is interested in strengthening its position within the Arab League” … This MFA post is published here.

The Israeli MFA post also cites the U.S. State Department briefing in Washington on Tuesday 13 July [which can be consulted in full here] in which U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley tells journalists: “We are conscious of the fact that there is a Libyan aid ship en route to Gaza as we speak, and that we, along with our partners in the Quartet, urge all those wishing to deliver goods to do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected by the Government of Israel and transferred via land crossings into Gaza. We have urged the Libyan Government to avoid unnecessary confrontations. We call on all parties to act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza.”

The Jerusalem Post’s Defense Correspondent Yaakov Katz reports today that Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has claimed, in an interview on Israel Radio’s “This Morning” program, that “calls by the US and the European Union to the ship’s captain to accept Israel’s diversion requests legitimizes Israel’s policy”…

Filed under: Blogging, Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Law of the Sea Convention, Sanctions