Israel: Netanyahu Warns 2nd Freedom Flotilla May Spark Middle East Situation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Monday that Second Freedom Flotilla which will set sail toward Gaza Strip next month may fuel the situation in the Middle East, calling on the European Union to ban its voyage to the coastal enclave, describing it as “provocative”.

Further, Netanyahu claimed during his meeting with European ambassadors today that, “there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza as population there are not short of anything,” according to Radio Israel.

Turkish-Israeli ties have much soured following Israel’s latest attack on the Freedom Flotilla convoy at the end of last May which caused the killing and injury of dozens of Turkish activists.

Radio Israel quoted Netanyahu as saying that, “some bodies are making efforts to send an international flotilla of ships to Gaza may be by the end of next May or the beginning of next June.”

Netanyahu appealed to European ambassadors to convey a message to their respective governments to stop this convoy before setting off from the European seaports.

He also described such convoy, “not as a peaceful one, but as a provocative that may fuel the situation in the region as a whole,” adding that, “whoever wants to preserve calm and tranquillity, he should be keen on withholding such provocation.”

“I think that it is our common interest to stop the movement of such fleet, ” adding that, “those who aspire to peace and calm must do their best to prevent such provocation.”