Israel's bloody interdiction of an aid flotilla bound for the blockaded Gaza Strip on Monday deepened doubt about the future of indirect peace talks with the Palestinians that got under way three weeks ago. The violence of the Israeli naval operation seemed likely to boost international pressure on Israel to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip – and provide a lifeline for Hamas. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face a diplomatic backlash of unprecedented proportions: the “Free Gaza” convoy included activists from regional powerbroker Turkey and other foreigners. The killing of at least 19 activists on the ships could also inflame a restive Arab minority in northern Israel that is closely watching reports that one of its clerics, Sheikh Raed Salah, was among the casualties. For Israel, storming the aid ships after warnings to turn back was part of a strategy of isolating Hamas in its Gaza fiefdom in the hope of tilting Palestinian sympathies toward US-backed President Mahmoud Abbas. But Abbas's credibility has been undermined by Israeli settlement of the West Bank, another Palestinian territory which is coming under Israeli occupation, and he can ill afford to stand by as outsiders bleed on behalf of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians. Abbas declared three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories. A senior aide, Nabil Abu Rdainah said: “The Israeli action is a crime and it is unacceptable. We condemn it strongly. No doubt it will have grave consequences.” Oussama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies, saw ire against Israel reaching as far as Washington. “I think the Turks will kick up a quick fuss about this, I think the Americans will use this to possibly ante up the pressure against the Israelis,” he said. Hamas, which has largely fallen from world headlines since its war with Israel some 18 months ago, hailed the victims as heroes of the cause. Hamas government head Ismail Haniyeh said of the activists: “You were heroes, whether you reached (Gaza) or not.” Another delay in peace negotiations that have been stop-start for almost two decades would hold little real drama. Abbas, with his truncated West Bank mandate, is too beholden to Israel and the United States to close the door on rapprochement. But the possibility of a fissure with Turkey – long Israel's most important Muslim ally but whose premier, Tayyip Erdogan, has chafed at the alliance – could deepen Israel's own isolation even as it tries to persuade wavering Arab countries that Iran is the main regional threat. Monday's bloodshed overshadowed a fence-mending visit by Israeli cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer to Qatar, among Gulf states that had frozen ties with Israel over its crackdowns against a Palestinian uprising that erupted a decade ago. As then, hard questions will be asked about the wisdom of using the military – in this case, battle-hardened naval commandos – for what was essentially a policing operation. “I see all the looks that I'm getting. The images (of the naval takeover) are certainly not pleasant,” Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio by telephone. Nahman Shai, a former Israeli military spokesman turned opposition lawmaker, likened the confrontation to the police killing of a dozen Arab citizens who demonstrated and rioted in solidarity with the Palestinians in late 2000. “The difference is that this time foreigners are involved, which means a much wider impact,” Shai told Israel Radio.
