(Ha'aretz) Anshel Pfeffer - Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit testified Thursday before the committee investigating the Gaza flotilla, saying that Israel's blockade on Gaza was entirely legal. Mendelblit told the panel that the naval blockade, imposed by Israel in 2007, after Hamas violently seized power over the territory, was in keeping with international law and was imposed due to "pure military considerations" and not as part of "economic warfare" against Hamas. Mendelblit added that even before the blockade was imposed, all supplies were transferred by land because Gaza has no port. "We want Hamas to stop launching rockets at our citizens. We have no desire to punish the civilian population [in Gaza]," he said. He stressed that the suffering of Gaza civilians did not constitute a humanitarian crisis, since Israel allows supplies to enter. Mendelblit explained that the blockade was imposed "long before anyone ever heard of flotillas" and that no one in the IDF would think to violate international law.
2010-08-27 08:16:24Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive