Gaza aid vessel redirected toward Egypt

By Liu Dong

A Libyan-commissioned aid vessel bound for Palestine charted a new route Wednesday, diverting toward Egypt instead of breaching the blockaded Gaza Strip, Israeli military officials said.

The Moldovan-flagged Amalthea, loitering within 100 kilometers of the Gaza coast, resumed sailing, heading for Egypt's El Arish port, after being delayed in international waters by an engine breakdown.

The Libyan charity headed by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi - son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi - that chartered the Amalthea, insisted that it was still planning to dock in Gaza, prompting the continued shadowing by four Israeli naval ships directing Amalthea to El Arish, the Egyptian Sinai desert, 50 kilometers west of Gaza.

The 92-meter Amalthea is carrying 2,000 tons of supplies, 15 pro-Palestinian activists and 12 crewmembers. It departed from Greece on Saturday.

According to the Gadhafi International Charity and Development Foundation, organizers of the mission, an Israeli gunboat intercepted the ship and ordered it to El Arish.

Egyptian officials said Monday that the port was open for the unloading and transfer of materials to Gaza.

"The Libyan aid vessel essentially demonstrates the Arab league's collective opposition to the blockade of Gaza, and the removal of the blockade is vital to … consolidating the unity of the Arab bloc," Yin Gang, a Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Six weeks ago, Israeli forces seized an aid flotilla, the Mavi Marmara, killing nine Turks, which sparked international ire.

Under the gathering pressure, Israel allowed more goods through land crossings, yet rebuffed calls to loosen its naval blockade, levied after Hamas assumed control of the region in 2007.

Israeli authorities maintain that the blockade is necessary to curb the Islamic militant insurgency.

"The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. We are working urgently with Israel, Palestinian authorities and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," White House National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said in a statement released after the Israeli assault.

"Israel will not make a fundamental change," Yin said, noting that the blockade keeps the Hamas militants in check. "Israel's unyielding stance presents a dilemma for the Obama administration, which must navigate the mighty Israeli influence in the US congress and the Arab world's antipathy toward Israel."