Israel's army chief vowed to prevent Lebanese and Iranian aid ships from entering Gaza (File)
Lebanon warns Israel against attacking ships
The Swedish Dock Workers Union on Wednesday launched a week-long blockade of cargo to and from Israel to protest the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month, a union representative told AFP.
The blockade, which also applies to Israeli ships, was launched "because of the assault on the Ship to Gaza (flotilla), that we supported before they took off ... and the blockade of the Gaza strip, which affects the civilian population," union spokesman Rolf Axelsson said.
Union chairman Bjoern A. Borg added the union called for an international investigation into the May 31 raid that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists.
He told AFP the dock workers believed Israel's easing of its Gaza blockade, announced on Sunday, was insufficient.
Eleven Swedes, including crime writer Henning Mankell, took part in the flotilla and were briefly taken into Israeli custody.
Holding Israel responsible
Meanwhile Lebanon says it will hold Israel responsible for any attack against blockade-busting aid ships planning to sail to Gaza in coming days.
Two ships carrying aid are planning to make the trip to Gaza. Lebanese authorities have so far granted one of them permission to sail first to Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel are technically at war.
A Lebanese official says Lebanon has sent a letter to the U.N. holding Israel responsible for any attack on the ships and that it cannot stop ships from leaving its ports if they comply with its law.
Israel's army chief vowed Tuesday to prevent Lebanese and Iranian aid ships from entering the Gaza Strip, saying the coastal enclave would not become an Iranian port.
"We have the right to inspect and prevent the flow of arms into Gaza," the Ynet news website quoted Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying.
"We can't let Gaza become an Iranian port," he said speaking at a Jewish seminary in northern Israel.
Earlier Tuesday Iranian Red Crescent officials said an Iranian aid ship is to leave the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas for a 14-day journey to Gaza at the end of this week.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/06/23/112121.html
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