- Title: SPAIN: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - WORLD CUP 2010 -
- Date: 12th July 2010
- Summary: SPANISH FLAG INSIDE A TAXI CLOSE UP OF FLAG INSIDE TAXI
- Embargoed: 27th July 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVA4T9CHXOR2VVU10CPR6EWPTRNE
- Story Text: Israeli cabinet ministers say Libyan ship will not reach Gaza shores, Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will not allow arms into the blockaded strip.
An Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday (July 11) that any ships headed to Gaza would be not be allowed to reach its shores, one day after a Libyan aid ship set sail to the blockaded strip.
"Israel hasn't changed its policy, and its policy is very clear. No ships were allowed to arrive at Gaza, so if they want to transfer the humanitarian equipment to the people in Gaza they are welcome to do it through Ashdod (referring to the Israeli port)," Israeli Minister of Science Daniel Hershkovitz told Reuters Television.
A Libyan ship carrying aid destined for Palestinians in Gaza left from the Greek port of Lavrio on Saturday (July 10), just over a month after nine activists were killed during an Israeli raid on an aid flotilla on a similar mission.
"Goods which have not undergone Israeli inspection will not reach Gaza," Israeli Information Minister Yuli Edelstein said ahead of a weekly Israeli cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.
Organisers of the aid ship had said that the Moldovan-flagged boat, with 12 crew and up to ten activists on board, would head for Gaza but would go to the Egyptian port of el Arish instead if banned from reaching their destination.
A charity chaired by the Libyan leader's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi is organising the trip and said the ship carried some 2,000 tons of food and medicine and complied with international rules. The trip was expected to take between 70 and 80 hours.
Nine pro-Palestinian activists died in May when Israeli marines stormed a Turkish aid ship leading a Gaza-bound convoy, prompting an international outcry.
Israel said its commandoes were attacked with knives and sticks when they boarded the ship and acted in self-defence.
Following the international outrage caused by its raid on the aid flotilla, Israel has announced steps to ease the blockade of the enclave and set up an inquiry into the incident.
Israel says its blockade of Gaza is necessary to stop arms and materials it fears could be used for military purposes from reaching Gaza's Hamas Islamist rulers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will maintain its blockade policy.
"(In my meetings in the U.S. last week) I found widespread support for our decision to remove the civilian blockade from Gaza while strongly maintaining the security blockade and understanding that we are doing what is needed to prevent weapons, missiles and rockets, entering Gaza out of concern for the security of Israeli citizens," he said during the cabinet meeting.
The United Nations says the blockade has led to a humanitarian crisis for the territory's 1.5 million people, of whom about 1 million depend to some extent on regular supplies of U.N. and other foreign aid brought in overland after Israeli inspection. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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