On Wednesday another boat load of supplies headed for Gaza from Greece was halted by the Israeli Defence Force (or IDF). However this time murder was averted because the captain of the Amalthea steered the Libyan government-sponsored vessel to an Egyptian port.

The ship contained 2,000 tonnes of food, cooking oil, medicines and prefabricated houses. These materials came from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, which is lead by one of the sons of Muammar Gaddafi.

Wednesday morning the Amalthea was stopped by Israeli naval vessels 75 miles from Gaza and ordered to dock at the Egyptian port of El-Arish. The Israeli naval vessels followed the ship to port so as to make sure it did not turn back toward Palestine.

Although this incident ended without bloodshed, Israel declared its intentions to murder more aid activists in the future.

Israeli envoy Sari Rubenstein said, “No ship can breach this blockade, be they civil or military ships. Whoever violates the blockade is heading for retaliation”. She added, “The blockade is legitimate, under international law…a blockade can be imposed on the sea”.

However this statement is an outright lie. A blockade can only be legal if it is approved by the UN Security Council. If that condition is not met, the blockade is illegal and constitutes a crime against humanity. This is the deliberate attempted genocide of the Palestinian people. Despite all rhetoric of anti-terrorism by leading North American and European states, the terrorizing of the Palestinians goes unpunished.