Iranian aid ships to set sail for Gaza

[joeblow]

Iranian aid ships to set sail for Gaza
Mon, 07 Jun 2010 06:20:58 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=12...=351020101



Iran's Red Crescent is getting prepared to send two relief ships to the Gaza Strip.

Two Iranian aid ships carrying humanitarian relief and medical supplies for the people of Gaza will set sail for the coastal sliver in the upcoming days.

Iran's Red Crescent announced Monday that the cargo will include food, medicine and appliances and it will be accompanied by a group of Iranian doctors and relief workers.

"The aid consists of food and medical supplies, which will be transported into Gaza via the Rafah border in Egypt before the week is through," the country's Red Crescent Director Abdolraoof Adibzadeh said.

The Rafah border crossing is the only escape route from Gaza that does not lead to Israel.

"Iran is also preparing to dispatch a navy hospital ship for the people of Gaza, which will have onboard doctors, nurses and all the medical equipment required for emergency surgeries and procedures," Adibzadeh further explained.

The decision comes in the wake of a deadly Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla carrying thousands of tons of aid supplies and hundreds of humanitarian activists to the coastal strip.

Israel's military attack into the Turkish aid vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara resulted in the death of nine activists -- including a Turkish teenager -- and the injury of more then 40 others.

SBB/CS/MMA

[h3rm35]

well now, let's see how well this one works...

also, on that note:
http://inteldaily.com/2010/06/playing-wi...ily.com%29
Playing with fire: Iran offers military protection for Gaza aid ships

June 7, 2010

in Middle East

(RT) — Iran is ready to provide escort for further aid ships destined to Gaza. The pledge made by Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatens to escalate tensions with Israel.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard members are at call to escort further Gaza-bound aid ships, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as of saying by Reuters.

“The naval wing of the Revolutionary Guard is ready to assist the peace flotilla to Gaza with all its effort and capabilities,” Khamenei’s Revolutionary Guard spokesman Ali Shirazi stated.

“If the Supreme Leader issues an order for this, then the Revolutionary Guard naval forces will do their best to secure the ships,” Shirazi said. “It is Iran’s duty to defend the innocent people of Gaza.”

This follows the recent incident in which Israel’s navy boarded the humanitarian aid ship “Rachel Corrie”, sailing under an Irish flag, and towed it to the port city of Ashdod.

Meanwhile, France said the European Union is ready to check the cargo on any vessels bound for Gaza in order to make sure humanitarian deliveries arrive safely.

That proposal comes as Israel rejected the idea of an UN-backed probe into last week’s killings on board the aid flotilla heading for the blockaded territory.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and French President Nikolas Sarkozy are among those putting pressure on Israel to explain what happened. But Israel says it has the right to launch an internal investigation.

Ada Ravon, a member of the Israeli human rights organization “Machsom Watch”, says Israel’s actions are a sign of arrogance.

“It was the most stupid decision I have ever come across on the political arena in Israel. We have worked against every law in international law that I can think of – we have committed crimes against civilian populations, we have acted as if we were the lords and masters of the world and I think, its wrong, it creates hatred and it does not control the arms to Gaza, and who says we have the right to control entrance of the arms to Gaza?” Ada Ravon told RT.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Force claims it has “thwarted a rare maritime terror attack” by an armed group of Palestinians, Haaretz.com reports.

The Israeli navy opened fire on a boat with five Palestinians on board. All were wearing diving suits and had diving gear onboard. The men were on their way to attack Israeli targets, the IDF said.

Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanain said four bodies have been retrieved by a rescue team. Two of the dead had multiple gunshots to the head.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – an offshoot of the Fatah party, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – said the killed were its marine unit members and were training.