Gaza Latest: Hamas Response to EU & UN, Israel Ponders No Cooperation

Hamas's Call on EU Countries: Following European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton's  visit to the Gaza Strip, with a call for a lifting of Israel's blockade and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's expression of readiness to hold direct dialogue with Hamas "if France receives an official request from the Palestinian Authority",  Ismail Radwan, a Gaza-based senior Hamas leader called on EU countries to hold direct talks with the group, "The European Union and France shouldn't hesitate in having direct dialogue with Hamas on the basis of direct dialogue and not on the basis of containment."

Gaza Latest: Israel Warnings over 2 Aid Ships, UN Flotilla Enquiry, & More

Hamas Blames UN: After the United Nations declared that humanitarian aid carried by two Lebanese aid ships should be delivered by land and not through a breaking of Israel's sea blockade, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused the organisation of being in "collaboration with the Israeli occupier" and added:

The UN call to international organizations to use the over-land road to Gaza instead of the sea is unacceptable and illegal.

Israel Not Likely to Cooperate with UN?: After the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed a team of international experts to investigate Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said that West Jerusalem is unlikely to cooperate.

Fatah and Hamas praised the appointment of the three-member panel. Fatah spokesman Ahmed A’saf said that Israel should not be treated as if it was above the law and Israeli war criminals should be tried for their actions. Hamas political consultant Yusuf Rizka expressed concerns that Israel would not cooperate with the investigative team, which could damage the investigation’s findings.

Hamas's New Technology?: According to Israeli police, a rocket sent from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev was not a Qassam, but may be a more advanced type, possibly smuggled into the Strip.

The projectile was taken to a police laboratory  for assessment.

Gaza Latest: Israel Warnings over 2 Aid Ships, UN Flotilla Enquiry, & More

Israel Concerned over New Flotillas: On Friday, Israeli officials urged  warned Lebanon to prevent two aid ships, Junia and Julia, from departing to Gaza.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement that the aid ships were an "unnecessary provocation" like other flotillas:

We hold the Lebanese government responsible for preventing the flotilla from departing today, and if it does depart it will be accompanied by Israel's Navy to the Ashdod port. If the ship refuses to be accompanied to Ashdod we will have no choice but to apprehend it in open waters.

Middle East Inside Line: Abbas-US Tension, Netanyahu’s “Political Risk”, More Gaza Flotillas?, UN-Israeli Relations

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, accused organizers of the aid ships of "seeking to incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region".

In letters to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Shalev said, "Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the ... naval blockade."

UN Probe on Flotilla Attack: The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed a team of international experts on Friday to investigate Israel's raid in on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

The fact-finding team comprises three independent experts --- Sir Desmond de Silva (Britain), Karl Hudson-Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago,) and Mary Shanthi Dairiam (Malaysia).

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that the UN Human Rights Council's made its decision in haste, and that it was "part of the Rights Council's obsession against Israel" . The official added:

The Israeli probe, conducted with transparency, makes the organization's probe completely unnecessary.

Israel Returning Freedom Flotilla Ships to Turkey: Israel has given up asking Ankara for a guarantee against the Freedom Flotilla's craft being used in another attempt to break the siege on Gaza and will send three ships back to Turkey.

Israel Military Puts Flotilla Issues Back to Government: In an interview with Reshet Bet on Friday, Maj.-Gen Giora Eiland, head of the military commission conducting an internal investigation of the attack on the Freedom Flotilla, said that it was possible to prevent the flotilla's mission to Gaza by political means.

Eiland, noting "changing political winds in Turkey", suggested that Israel "could have opened the Gaza crossings in advance, before the Turkish flotilla". However, he said, Israel preferred waiting for international pressure before taking steps.

Gaza Latest: Aid Ship Docks in Egypt but 3 International Investigations on the Way

The Amalthea, carrying aid, entered Egypt's el-Arish port on Wednesday despite the call of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to break the siege of Gaza, "The sea and land convoys must continue. We hope we can depend on Islamic nations to help us lift the blockade."

Following the Amalthea's docking in el-Arish, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor restated:

Gaza Latest: Is Aid Ship On Its Way or Going Back to Egypt?

Anyone who wants to bring materials there which are not dangerous materials - munitions, etcetera - can bring them through El Arish, can bring them through the [Israeli] port of Ashdod.

What we want is to set the arrangement for inspections, so we can always check and not allow them to bust their way in.

Then Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon announced that Israel can consider itself "victorious" in the Libyan ship incident. He said that calls by the European Union and the US for the ship to follow Israel's instructions and not sail to Gaza are a good sign.

However, West Jerusalem's problems may just be starting. Haaretz reports that there will be several meetings amongst high-ranked officials this week Israel's official response to the United Nations' enquiries. Following the Goldstone Report on the Gaza War, Israel faces three new international investigations. Some officials described the situation  as a "barrage".

The most significant enquiry is that of the UN committee charged with examining the credibility of Israel's court system in the wake of the Goldstone Report . Haaretz's Barak Ravid reports:

The inquiry into the Israeli court system was decided on at a March meeting of the UNHRC [UN Human Rights Commission] in Geneva as part of its continuing effort to monitor Israel's response to the Goldstone report. The panel is charged with examining the efficiency, independence, and professionalism of Israel's court system and its adherence to internationally accepted standards. Some Israeli officials have already begun describing it as "a second Goldstone committee."

The committee headed by the German jurist Christian Tomuschat is tasked with monitoring any legal steps taken by the Israeli or Palestinian authorities to implement the Goldstone Report's recommendations. It should begin its work in the next few weeks and submit a final report in October.

Israel's official response to the Goldstone report has been negative, labelling it as "one-sided, legitimizing terrorism". So, if the Netanyahu government decides to cooperate with the Tomuschat committee, it will be a change in strategy.

Two other international committees, one appointed by the UN Secretary General and the other by the UN Human Rights Council, are set to begin work over Israel's May raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

Gaza Special: UN Cancels Middle East Session But Begins Freedom Flotilla Enquiry

On Wednesday, the president of the United Nations General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam, cancelled a session on the Middle East:

After consulting with member states I have decided not to hold an interactive thematic debate of the General Assembly on the situation in the Middle East as previously envisaged for July 8, 2010. I will continue to consult with member states on the issue and will keep you informed of further developments.

Israel: Hezbollah Diversion or Threat?

There was speculation that the cancellation was due to Washington's resistance and discussions and reservations among Arab nations.

However, in spite of Washington's criticisms, the UN Human Rights Council announced that a former president of the International Criminal Court, Canadian Philippe Kirsch, will head the committee investigating the deaths of nine Turkish citizens in the Israeli military operation against the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla on 31 May.

Diplomats describe the relationship between the UN headquarters in New York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva as one "short on trust." A diplomat in New York said, "As far as the U.S. administration is concerned, at a time when it is trying to resume the peace process, the investigation into the events of the flotilla at this time could not have come at a worst time."