Text Size

Email Post

Print Post

Comments (9)

Save Article

Washington - The United States Tuesday called for anybody wanting to deliver goods to Gaza “to act responsibly” and work through official channels, as Israeli warships shadowed a Libyan aid vessel suspected of trying to breach the naval blockade.

“We have urged the Libyan government to avoid any unnecessary confrontation,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, adding that Washington called “on all parties to act responsibly in meeting the needs of the people of Gaza.

Israeli warships accompanied the Libyan aid ship on Tuesday, which it said had been intent on working around the Jewish state’s naval blockade on the tiny Palestinian territory.

“We… have urged all those wishing to deliver goods to do so through established channels so their cargo can be inspected by the government of Israel and transferred by land crossings into Gaza,” Crowley told reporters.

Fears of a new standoff come six weeks after Israeli commandos launched a pre-dawn operation to prevent a flotilla of aid ships from breaching the blockade.

In the resulting skirmishes, nine Turks, including a dual US national, were shot dead and dozens of other people injured, including nine Israeli commandos.

Crowley said Monday that US envoy George Mitchell would return to the Middle East this week in hopes of helping restart long-dormant direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians, saying Washington urged all parties to enter “direct negotiations as quickly as possible.”

More of today's headlines

“Nebraska - Penniless and stranded in Omaha with no ticket home, an Israeli woman left at a gas station by con-artists who lured her to the United States with the promise...” Nebraska - Israeli Woman Conned Into Coming to The U.S. Warns of Potential Scam “Ocean Township, NJ - Opponents of a proposed yeshiva for college-age men at the Copper Gables office building at Deal and Poplar roads have hand-delivered a letter...” Ocean Township, NJ - Yeshiva Proposal Faces Resident Opposition