The UK submitted a secret proposal last week that suggested easing the siege on Gaza in return for what it called “a watered-down” investigation into Israel’s deadly attack on the Turkish solidarity ship Mavi Marmara, the Telegraph reported.The Telegraph said that Israeli officials denied any direct link between Israel’s readiness to ease the siege on Gaza and the international demand of a comprehensive investigation into the attack.
However, a foreign official told the Telegraph that “it seems the issue here is a double deal”.
But Israel said that it would agreed to an judicial investigation carried out by Israeli officials and that it would likely accept the presence of one or two American observers.
Western sources reported that the British proposal was adopted by the Quartet Committee (The United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia).
The sources added that this deal calls on Israel to drop its list of 35 items that are not allowed into Gaza in return for a list of specific outlawed items.
William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, stated that the international demand of a UN investigation into the deadly attack against the Turkish ship, might be reduced to an Israeli investigation with international pressures.
Meanwhile, Britain denounced attempts to send more solidarity ships to the Gaza Strip.
He told the BBC that instead of challenging the Israeli siege on Gaza, other means should be used to send humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
British Secretary of State for Defense, Liam Fox, said that Iran’s intention to send ships and planes filled with humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is a “provocative and counterproductive measure”.
Furthermore, British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, also said that an Israeli investigation with an international presence “might be acceptable”.
The Israeli attack left nine human rights supporters dead and dozens wounded. The army and the navy violently boarded the ships and opened fire at the unarmed activists.
On Wednesday morning, the Israeli Ministerial Committee held a meeting that ended without a decision on Israel’s official stance on investigating the attack against the Freedom Flotilla.
While Israel still insists on keeping the siege on Gaza, it might consider easing the siege as long as international observers monitor the border crossings.
