Israel demands written assurances from Turkey before releasing blockade-running ships

If Turkey thought they had Israel on the defensive over the violent confrontation in May over the Gaza blockade, the Israelis sent a message of defiance today.  Israel still holds three ships seized in that incident which resulted in the deaths of nine protesters (or agitators, depending on the point of view), and it doesn’t plan to give them back any time soon — not without some written commitment from Ankara on how the ships will be used in the future:

Israel is seeking written assurances from Turkey that the three IHH ships which it has in its possession, captured during the May 31 Gaza-bound flotilla incident, will not be used for another blockade-running attempt before it agrees to send them back to Turkey, reported Turkish daily Hurriyet Tuesday.

The IHH, which organized the ships of the flotilla, is demanding that Israel provide tug boats to tow the ships back to Turkey, according to Hurriyet. The Israeli Foreign Ministry has yet to respond to the complaint IHH lodged at the Embassy in Tel Aviv. …

Hurriyet reported that in past cases, Israel has required assurances only from the organizers which send ships to Gaza, but this time Israel is asking for assurances from Turkey[.]

IHH, readers will recall, organized the attempt to run the blockade on Gaza in the May flotilla.  But IHH sponsors a lot more activities besides Mediterranean cruises.  Israeli counterterrorism researchers note that IHH has connections to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas.  It belongs to the Union of Good, the Islamic charity front group that covers its support of violence and terrorism with charitable work in the same manner as Hamas.

Under those circumstances, Israel has no reason to work with IHH for any reassurances of future conduct.  IHH probably wouldn’t make a public commitment on that score, certainly not one they intended to keep, and accepting their word would be tantamount to turning the Israeli merchant marine into a de facto Hamas navy.  The stand appears to go further than that, though, to force the government in Ankara to acknowledge their role in protecting IHH — or at least forcing them into a commitment to control IHH activities in the aftermath of this confrontation.

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