'Fatah officials to board upcoming Gaza flotilla'

Shaath says his group doesn't need authorization from Israel "to reach our homeland;" Fatah to take part in planned effort to lift Gaza blockade.

nabil shaath 311 (photo credit: BLOOMBERG)
nabil shaath 311
(photo credit: BLOOMBERG)
Senior Fatah Central Committee member Nabil Shaath said on Thursday that his organization will join the next flotilla to Gaza in May.
Senior Fatah officials will be allowed to take part in the aid flotilla, Shaath told Radio A-Shams, because it is a humanitarian effort meant to lift the blockade on Gaza.
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When asked if the officials would require permission from Hamas or the IDF, Shaath said "we don't need authorization to reach our homeland - not from Hamas and not from Israeli security forces."
The flotilla is planning to set sail at the end of May, marking the one-year anniversary to the Mavi Marmara incident – the first Gaza flotilla where nine Turks were killed when they attacked IDF commandos trying to keep their ship from reaching Gaza’s shores.
Earlier this month, IHH President Bulent Yildrim said that his organization and the Mavi Marmara ship would participate in the flotilla.
"This is not Israel's Mediterranean Sea," Yildrim said, according to Turkish newspaper Zaman. "We are not afraid to become martyrs."