Israel refuses to relax the naval blockade on Gaza, even in a symbolic gesture. Our special envoy Luis Carballo asked both Israelis and Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem for their opinions about the latest flotilla: Should the Israeli government allow it access to Gaza? Spokesman Mark Regev was not available to talk to us on Sunday.
Carballo found the points of view clearly opposed: “The Palestinians evoke what they say is a lack of humanity on the part of [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, for not allowing the flotilla to reach the Strip, while many Israelis told us that allowing this aid into Gaza would be the same as giving it directly to Hamas.”
One Israeli said: “Our government permits anyone to send humanitarian aid to Gaza but just wants to check it. How do we know it is not weapons? The previous flotilla was supposedly bringing humanitarian aid and we found weapons and they were attacking our soldiers. We have to be careful and see what’s going in.”
