DHAKA: A Turkish aid group said it would send ships again to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza, four years after Israeli commandos stormed its flotilla bound for the Palestinian territory and killed 10 people.

The incident wrecked diplomatic ties between Turkey and Israel, once close Middle East allies but whose relationship had been tense since late 2008 over a previous Israeli military operation against Islamist militants dominating Gaza.

The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) said in an e-mailed statement that members of a ‘coalition’ of pro-Palestinian activists from 12 countries had met in Istanbul at the weekend and decided to launch a convoy ‘in the shadow of the latest Israeli aggression on Gaza’, referring to the latest, month-long war. Fighting has abated under a 72-hour ceasefire deal.

‘The Freedom Flotilla Coalition affirmed that, as most governments are complicit, the responsibility falls on civil society to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza,’ it said, reports daily Hurriyet.

BDST: 1456 HRS, AUG 12, 2014