(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) The US late on Monday said activists who wish to deliver aid supplies to Gaza should use "established channels" rather than try and access the Israeli-blockaded strip by sea, as the Freedom Flotilla III attempted on Sunday.
Four boats - the Marianne, Rachel, Vittorio, and Juliano II - left European ports last week as part of the third Freedom Flotilla intended to challenge the Israeli siege of Gaza. In the early morning hours local time on Sunday, some 100 nautical miles off Gaza's coast, the Marianne was boarded by the Israeli coast guard and searched, and those on board were detained, Israeli authorities said.
There are 18 crewmembers on the Marianne, including Arab-Israeli MP Basel Ghattas, and the former Tunisian president, Dr. Moncef Marzuki, according to the Freedom Flotilla III website.
"We understand first of all that the situation (was) resolved peacefully and without incident. It was a compliant boarding (as I was) informed... which is good news," State Department Spokesperson Mark Toner told reporters. "Frankly no one was hurt," he added.
"While we recognize and underscore the need for international support for Gaza's recovery and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people, you know, we remain of the view that there are established and legitimate crossings and established channels rather for that assistance to be transmitted through," he affirmed.
"We actually have fulfilled 97 percent of our USD 414 million in assistance that we pledged for Gaza reconstruction efforts last fall," Toner said.
"Some of those pledges that have been made have not been fulfilled, and we certainly encourage our international partners to take steps to fill the financial gap in Gaza funding," he urged.
"These are established channels for relief to get through. Certainly, that access can be improved upon, but, you know, that's something that's incumbent on Hamas and other organizations to ensure that the security exists that this assistance can be delivered," he concluded.
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