JERUSALEM — Eight ships carrying 10,000 tons of donated supplies and hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists on Tuesday were making their way toward blockaded Gaza — and a likely weekend showdown with the Israeli navy.
The small flotilla carrying cement, prefab homes and other goods marks the most ambitious attempt yet to break the border blockade of Gaza, imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Islamic militant Hamas violently seized the territory in 2007.
Israel warned that it would not let the vessels reach Gaza, and has reportedly set up a detention center for the activists in the southern Israeli port of Ashdod. Israel also insisted there is no humanitarian crisis, claiming that it allows sufficient supplies into Gaza. Link
