JERUSALEM, April 1 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Friday asked visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help stop a planned international aid flotilla to Gaza.
The prime minister charged the "Freedom Fleet 2," which plans to sail to Gaza in May, will be infiltrated by radical Islamists bent on violence, The Jerusalem Post reported.
"Because of the attempt to smuggle weapons into Gaza by sea, Israel must act with force against the flotilla," Netanyahu said.
The pro-Palestinian Free Gaza movement says the flotilla will include 15 ships from various countries and thousands of participants. At a meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the activists called on the governments of participating nationals to protect them.
Last May 31, Israeli commandos boarded the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish ship bound for Gaza, and nine passengers were killed.
Israel's investigation concluded its military followed international law, but a Turkish investigation determined Israeli soldiers shot victims at close range and that two were killed before the Israelis boarded the ship.
