Israel To Return Three Turkish Ships

Thursday August 05, 2010 22:15 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israel intends to return three Turkish ships that were violently boarded by the Israeli army during the attack against the Freedom Flotilla that was heading to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to deliver humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip.

Mavi Marmara

The announcement was made by the Israeli Defense Ministry on Thursday. The ministry said that it will hand Turkish officials the Turkish ships that “attempted to violate the naval siege on the Hamas-led government in Gaza”.

The ministry added that Marmara ship and two other Turkish ships that were boarded by the army will be sent back to Ankara. The Mavi Marmara ship is currently at the Haifa Port while two other ships are in Ashdod in the south of the country.

The ships, part of the Freedom Flotilla that was heading to Gaza, were violently attacked by the Israeli army on May 31; nine activists were killed and several others were wounded.

The attack led to a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel.

israel | gaza siege | news report saed at imemc dot org