Ship carrying Jordanian MPs prevented from setting sail to Gaza

AMMAN — Israeli occupation naval forces prevented a Freedom Flotilla III ship carrying two Jordanian MPs, among other activists, from breaking the blockade of the Gaza Strip, MP Yihya Saud said on Wednesday.

Saud, who heads the Lower House’s Palestine Committee, added that the Greek authorities only allowed four boats of the flotilla to head to Gaza.

“The boat carrying me and MP Zakaria Sheikh and another European lawmaker was not allowed to set sail by Greek authorities after news about the hijacking of boats carrying activists,” Saud told The Jordan Times. 

“Even the boats that left the shores of Greece only anchored at Rhodes as they were intercepted by the Israeli naval forces that prevented them from proceeding to Gaza.”

The first of four vessels from the Freedom Flotilla III set sail for the coastal enclave from the Greek island of Crete last Thursday night, carrying 70 rights activists, journalists, lawmakers and politicians, together with a cargo of humanitarian aid.

Israel on Monday commandeered the Swedish-flagged Marianne of Gothenburg, part of the Freedom Flotilla III, and accompanied it to the Port of Ashdod, Agence France-Presse reported.

Sixteen foreign nationals were on board along with two Israelis, Arab lawmaker Basel Ghattas and a television reporter. 

The two Israelis have been released, though Ghattas could face a parliamentary hearing on whether he should face sanctions.

On Tuesday, Israel deported Tunisia’s former president Moncef Marzouki and European parliament member Ana Miranda after they took part in the flotilla.

“There are another 14 who have begun the expulsion process,” the agency quoted a spokesperson for Israel’s immigration authority as saying.

The flotilla was the third of its kind to attempt to break the nearly nine-year Israeli blockade of Gaza.

In May 2010, Israeli forces launched a raid on a six-ship flotilla which ended in bloodshed, claiming the lives of 10 Turkish activists.