Nine ships sailing from various destinations, including Ireland, Turkey and Greece, are headed towards the Gaza Strip with the goal of breaking the Israeli maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip. The so-called Freedom Flotilla is carrying around 750 activists, including diplomats and journalists, as well as about 10,000 tons of supplies. If they don't turn back, IDF navy commandos plan to block the ships. Israel has vowed to prevent the ships from docking in Gaza, offering instead to send the aid through its own crossings after carrying-out security checks. Carlos Latuff's cartoon on Israel's blockade of Gaza I will attempt to break down the reactions and posts I've seen coming from the Hebrew blogosphere into what seem to be three main arguments: 1. There is no humanitarian problem in the Gaza Strip 2. The flotilla is a provocative trick to capture media around the world 3. The flotilla includes questionable participants (“terrorists”?) I will also describe some of Israel's formal and informal reactions to this event. As the matter is complex from many angles, if you have more insight to offer, please don't hesitate to add it to the comments section at the bottom of this post. In a recent interview Col. Moshe Levy (IDF) said “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is stable – there is no lack in food or any other items, except those that fuel the terrorist movement and strengthens Hamas.” Since the beginning of the year, Israel transferred 260,000 tons of humanitarian aid – Every day some 100 trucks enter Gaza with vital materials. Israel let some 6,000 Palestinians into Israel to receive medical treatments in Israel and Jordan. There is no taxation on food or medicine. Additionally, Israel is enabling the UNRWA bring in cement for construction projects that they oversee. Here is some information on humanitarian aid to Gaza over the past year and a half, posted by the MFA. And from the IDF blog, an overview of the regulations on what is allowed in and out of the Gaza strip. Alternatively, here's a snarky piece by Larry Derfner focusing on the Israeli Foreign Ministry statements about the nonexistent humanitarian crisis in Gaza and questions the idyllic image that they have been trying to paint. The Gaza Gateway blog questions the Israeli claim about the “magnificent” situation in Gaza: if there is such prosperity, then how exactly is the closure policy promoting Israel’s goal to weaken the Hamas government? For example, if the economic situation in Gaza is so magnificent, as stated in the cynical message distributed by the Government Press Office yesterday – why does another public statement by the State of Israel proudly declare that 738,000 tons of humanitarian aid were transferred to the Gaza Strip last year? How, the reader might also ask, are these statements of prosperity compatible with the contradictory information frequently released by international organizations ? Is it not true that 80% of Gaza’s population is supported by international aid organizations? Is it not true that the unemployment rate in Gaza is around 35%? And, how is the decisive statement that “Israel has taken measures to support trade and commerce” consistent with the sweeping ban imposed by Israel for the past three years on the entry of raw materials to industrial plants and factories in the Gaza Strip? Indeed, the ban is perpetuating a situation in which over 90% of industrial establishments are closed or are operating at less than 10% of capacity. Does the fact that Israel prevents the entry of margarine in large containers designed for the production of foodstuffs in Gaza, while it allows the entry of margarine in small packages (made in Israel) promote the economy in Gaza? In a recent blog post, Ido Landau wonders if there are still Israelis who truly believe that the siege will help release Gilad Shalit: I'd like to know if there exists an Israeli citizen that doesn't know a three year old piece of information – that the price to release Gilad Shalit is the price that was initially set; a price that will not change even after the fourth, fifth or sixth year? That the solution against qassam missiles and the terrorist attack attempts is, simply, opening the borders? The Israeli siege on Gaza, caused a 60% deterioration in nutritional insecurity for senior homes. Almost half of the agricultural land in the Gaza strip cannot be used as a result from the destruction of operation “cast lead” or from being within the security belt. The fishing industry is paralyzed due to the ban on entering deep sea (the Gazans smuggle fish via tunnels). This means the collapse of the agricultural sector in the Gaza strip. If you're interested to read about the humanitarian situation, I recommend you read the following report (published by OCHA).