ANKARA
A human rights group said Monday that another ship will head to the Gaza Strip as part of the Third Gaza Freedom Flotilla once it gets permission from Greece.
Ramy Abdu, chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, said in a statement Monday that the flotilla’s fifth ship will head to Gaza within 48 hours if it gets permission from Athens.
“The ship will head Gaza once it overcomes some administrative barriers and procedures,” Abdu said, adding: “The Greek administration is facing pressure from the Israel occupation and its supporters.”
Israeli forces blocked the Third Gaza Freedom Flotilla's Marianne ship in international waters and captured at least one of the ships participating in it, forcing it to land in the Israeli port of Ashdod, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said Monday.
The France-Palestine Solidarity Organization condemned the intervention of the Israeli Defense Forces against the Marianne in international waters, claiming Israel violated international law by doing so.
Tunisia's Congress for the Republic party criticized Tunisia’s silence over Israel's intervention against the Marianne.
The ship was carrying the party's longtime leader and former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki.
The party called on the Tunisian state to demand an explanation from the United Nations and the International Red Cross Organization regarding the intervention, as well as the state of the ship's passengers and crew being held in Israel.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner was thankful "no one was hurt. It was without incident and resolved peacefully”, he said.
“While we recognize and underscore the need for international support for Gaza's recovery and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, you know, we remain of the view that there are established and legitimate crossings and established channels rather for that assistance to be transmitted through," he added.
