Netanyahu remained steadfast in his defence of the Gaza blockade, saying the ‘freedom flotilla’ had been on a ‘terrorist operation.’
“It is our duty to scrutinize each ship that approaches Gaza,” he told a news conference in Jerusalem.
On Wednesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had demanded that Israel lift its blockade of the Gaza strip immediately. The UN chief said the blockade was “counter-productive, unsustainable and wrong”.
Israel dismissed this call, and also dismissed a UN decision to set up a probe of the deadly raid on the flotilla, saying the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) that adopted the resolution had no moral authority whatsoever.
“The authority of this council, which once again is working stubbornly against Israel, has reached rock bottom,” said foreign ministry spokesman Ygal Palmor on Thursday.
The UNHRC had condemned Israel’s “outrageous attack” on the aid ships and voted to set up an independent international investigation into the raid. The council voted 32 to three to investigate any violations of international law in the boarding. The US, the Netherlands and Italy voted against the measure. Meanwhile, backlash from the attack continued to pour in from around the world, with South Africa following Turkey’s lead and recalling its ambassador to Israel. “The recall of Ambassador Ishmael Coovadia is to show our strongest condemnation of the attack,” the South African junior FM said on Thursday. “We are recalling him for consultation which suggests that after consultation he will go back to Tel Aviv.”
Turkey said its ties with Israel would ‘never be the same,’ as it confirmed the deaths of eight Turkish nationals and one US national in the raid.
“Turkish-Israeli ties will never be the same. Turkey will never forgive this attack,” Turkish President Abdullah Gul said.
The bodies of the eight Turkish nationals were handed over to families in Istanbul on Thursday.
Meanwhile, The US offered its support to Israel, with US Vice President Joe Biden saying Israel had the right to protect its security by boarding ships heading for Gaza. “I think Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest,” Biden said, though he admitted that the US continue to press Israel to improve conditions for Palestinians.”
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Thursday said added that the flotilla tragedy should not be allowed to hamper American-mediated peace talks.
Published in the Express Tribune, June 4th, 2010.
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