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Jerusalem (AFP) Aug 26, 2010 Israel's top military judge said on Thursday the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip is legal, in testimony before an inquiry into a deadly May 31 raid on an activist ship seeking to break it, media reported. "We've consulted with the attorney general and with the Supreme Court, and found that it is legal and permitted," Judge Advocate General Major General Avihai Mandelblit told the five-member Israeli commission of inquiry, according to the Haaretz daily. He also said the naval blockade was imposed out of "pure military considerations" and not as a part of "economic warfare" against Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is committed to Israel's destruction. He also pointed out that even before the blockade was imposed in 2007, all supplies were transferred to the Gaza by land because Gaza has no proper port. The commission, which includes two international observers, is only mandated to look at the international legality of the blockade and the raid. Nine Turkish activists were killed on May 31 when Israeli naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara ferry, which led a six-ship flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza in defiance of the blockade. Activists claim the troops started firing as soon as they hit the deck, but Israeli authorities say activists attacked the commandos with steel rods and wooden staves as they were abseiling down from helicopters.
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Commentary: War and peace in MideastWashington (UPI) Aug 25, 2010 Although the Mideast peace process is important, said Elliott Abrams' invitation, there is something more important in that part of the world. "Members of the Friends of Israel initiative are even more concerned about the onslaught of radical Islamism as well as the specter of a nuclear Iran, both of which threaten the entire world," wrote Abrams, who served in senior positions in two R ... read more |
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