Local Editor

On Monday May 24, the Turkish government sent a secret message to Al Quds (Jerusalem), in which it threatened to retaliate in case of any "Israeli" halts on the "Freedom Flotilla" nine-shipped convoy on its way to Gaza.

Freedom Flotilla aims at breaking the blockade on the Gaza Strip and delivering humanitarian aids of all kinds.

According the "Israeli" DEBKAfile's military and intelligence sources, the Turkish message came as a challenge to "Israeli" threats. Turkey has already set a couple of helicopters on one or more Turkish vessels to challenge the "Israeli" Air Force.

Three of the ships of the convoy are Turkish, and personally sponsored by Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

As the "Freedom Flotilla" convoy set sail towards Gaza, "Israel" imposed 20-nautical mile closure on the Gaza coastal area, vowing to prevent the Turkish-led flotilla from entering port, according to DEBKAfile.

DEBKAfile sources report that Erdogan approved a plan, which says that when "Israeli" naval commandoes approach the flotilla to prevent it from reaching Gaza, the helicopters will take off and land in the Gaza lands. The Turkish plan assumes that the "Israeli" Air force will not dare to bring down the helicopter for fear of an "international outcry against a purported humanitarian mission", DEBKAfile reported.

So far, Al Quds (Jerusalem) has not yet replied to the Turkish message.

"Israel" has decided that all vessels of the flotilla will be diverted to an "Israeli" port after stopping the entrance of the convoy ships to Gaza's post, and the people aboard the ships will be detained at a special camp. Sources added that "Israel" plans to unload the cargo and if it does not contain any materials that might help Hamas' military actions against "Israel", it would be handed over to the Gaza Strip.

Because Turkey knows that "Israel" would not simply give out humanitarian aids to Gaza, that is why "Freedom Flotilla" aims at breaking the siege on Gaza and deliver the humanitarian aids its self.