Israel said on Friday it could use force to stop a new aid boat to Gaza, as Lebanon refused to bow to warnings against authorizing an all-woman ship to head for the blockaded Palestinian territory.
In a letter sent to UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said the stated intention of the Bolivian-flagged cargo ship, the Mariam, was “to violate the existing naval blockade of Gaza.”
Israel also had information that another vessel, the Naji al-Ali, plans to leave from a Lebanese port with the aim of violating the blockade, she said.
“Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the aforementioned naval blockade,” Shalev said.
She said such “confrontational actions by the organizers as well as those that offer their consent, is deeply troubling and requires the attention of the international community.”
Israel came under international censure over its May 31 seizure of a six-ship aid fleet bound for the Palestinian territory when Israeli commandos shot dead nine Turkish activists in a clash on the lead boat.
The Mariam plans to depart north Lebanon for Cyprus today at 10pm on the first leg of a planned voyage to Gaza, according to organizer Samar al-Hajj.
Lebanon’s Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said on Friday that Beirut refuses to bow to Israel’s warning against granting clearance to the Mariam.
“We will not respond to the wishes or requests of [Israeli Defense Minister Ehud] Barak, and what he says is of little relevance to us,” he said. “We will continue to exercise our sovereignty and make the decisions we find appropriate.”
It is planned that the Mariam, renamed in honor of the Virgin Mary, will carry aid to Gaza in a bid to break Israel’s four-year siege with more than 50 Lebanese and foreign women activists on board, including local pop star May Hariri.
However, Aridi said there was no guarantee the ship would set off today as Cyprus had not yet granted authorization for the Mariam to dock or to depart for Gaza.
The Cyprus government has said it was keeping in place a ban on the sailing of ships from the island to the Gaza Strip.
The Naji al-Ali, another Lebanese boat organized by journalists, has also announced it would sail to Gaza via Cyprus, but has not yet received clearance from Lebanese authorities.
In Israel, the foreign ministry said the country’s UN mission had also been instructed to lodge complaints with the secretary general and the Security Council, calling the planned voyage an “unnecessary provocation.”
Diplomats are lobbying for pressure on Lebanon to prevent the ship from sailing, it said.
Barak, meanwhile, called on the Lebanese government to “exercise responsibility and prevent the sailing” and said Israel would instead allow the ship to sail to an Israeli or Egyptian port.
“In the event that the ship insists on coming, despite the blockade which is in force, Israel will be compelled to stop the ship and direct it to the [Israeli] port of Ashdod,” Barak said.
He warned last month Israel would intercept any ship nearing Gaza and said the Beirut government would be held responsible for allowing flotillas to depart from its shores for Gaza, run by the Islamist movement Hamas.
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war and have no diplomatic ties or maritime links.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
RSS