(L to R) Aid flotilla organizers Dror Feiler, Vangelis Pissias, Huwaida Arraf and Mattias Gardell say they will make a new attempt to reach Gaza before the end of 2010. AFP photo
Israel is bracing for what is being described by its military as the “mother of all flotillas,” comprising up to 20 ships planning to set sail for the blockaded Gaza Strip, a report said Tuesday.
The flotilla is being organized by a coalition of nongovernmental organizations from Europe and the United States, including a group calling itself European Jews for a Just Peace, Israel’s Jerusalem Post reported. The groups hope to set off within the coming months.
“We hope to have a broad coalition from European countries, and also maybe the United States,” Dror Feiler, a Stockholm-based Israeli-Swedish musician and artist who is one of the organizers behind the flotilla plans, told the Post on Monday. “We would like it to be double the size of the last flotilla, with at least a dozen ships and more than a thousand people.”
According to the newspaper, the Israeli military is closely tracking the planned flotilla and is preparing for a wide range of scenarios, including the possibility that due to the large number of ships, it will need to stop the vessels far from Israel’s shores.
“The Israeli army can stop 12 or 50 ships if it wants,” Feiler said. “[Nonetheless] there are so many ships since so many people want to get together to stop the siege, which is a collective punishment on the people of Gaza and is unacceptable.”
The May 31 attack
The last flotilla aimed at breaking the Gaza blockade was stopped by Israeli commandos at the end of May. Nine activists, including eight pro-Palestinian Turks and one U.S. citizen of Turkish descent, were killed during the May 31 attack, which reduced already-tense relations between Turkey and Israel to historic lows.
The coalition behind the new flotilla effort includes the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation, or İHH, and the Free Gaza Movement, which organized the flotilla stopped in May, the Post said.
The newspaper also reported Tuesday that the Israeli commission investigating the Gaza flotilla attack requested that the Israeli chief of staff’s assistant, Col. Erez Weiner, give the court further information on the May 31 raid.
The Turkel Committee, headed by retired high court judge Yaakov Turkel, asked for electronic data and other materials that a committee headed by Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland analyzed when investigating the military aspect of the Gaza flotilla raid.
Turkel’s probe also asked for explanations of the soldiers’ behavior on the Mavi Marmara, the ship where the nine activists were killed, and for answers to additional questions that the Eiland Commission did not probe.
Uzi Arad, the head of the Israeli National Security Council, is expected to testify next week before the committee, as is Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence service. Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal will testify Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Olmert and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi have previously testified before the Turkel Commission.
Banner of flotilla stopped in May 
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout Europe and the United States are currently assembling a flotilla of up to 20 ships, which will set sail for the Gaza strip in the coming months in an attempt break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory. Israeli-Swedish activist Dror Feiler said that the goal of the new flotilla is to double the size of the previous one, and for it to include more than a thousand people. "The Israeli Army can stop 12 to 50 ships if it wants," Feiler said. "Nonetheless there are so many ships since so many people want to get together to stop the siege, which is a collective punishment on the people of Gaza and is unacceptable."

The Israel Defense Force is monitoring the actions of the planned flotilla, according to a report in the '''' on Tuesday. The Israeli army is calling this new fleet of ships "the mother of all flotillas." A wide range of scenarios is being prepared for which include the possibility that due to the larger number of ships reported to be part of the flotilla, the Israeli navy may need to intercept it before the ships get close to Israel's shoreline. Officials say that Israel will warn ship operators that their crew may be detained and the vessel held until impound fees are paid, claiming the backing of international maritime treaties.

"The legal approach proved effective as a deterrent, and we're prepared to see it through as a punishment. If we are to pay a price for defending the blockade, the other side will pay a price for challenging it," a senior Israeli government official. The official declined to be named.

A European campaigner against the blockade, Anwar Ghabi, told Arabic news agency Quds Press that the new flotilla will be backed by hundreds of NGOs, including several human rights groups.

The first flotilla to challenge the blockade was stopped by Israeli naval commandos in May this year. Nine activists were killed, and several dozen activists and seven Israeli commandos were wounded after Israeli troops clashed with activists. Harsh international and domestic criticism followed. Subsequent aid ships were seized or diverted to Egypt.