A deal struck between Israeli and Egyptian officials enabled a Libyan ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip to change course and dock peacefully at an Egyptian port on Wednesday, the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat reported.
Israel had warned the ship not to attempt to enter Gaza waters and according to the report, struck a deal with Egypt to avoid violent incident. The Amalthea thus unloaded its cargo in El-Arish, from where the goods will be trucked via the Rafah crossing to Gaza.
It was not initially clear on what persuaded the ships' passengers, members of the Libyan Gadhafi International association – led by Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi - to agree not to sail to Gaza.
According to Thursday's report in A-Sharq al-Awsat, Israel has agreed to let Gadhafi's organization begin a project to rebuild the ruins in Gaza. His organization and the United Nations Works and Relief Association will soon begin to send some 50 million Egyptian pounds into the coastal territory to get the project rolling.
Gadhafi told the newspaper that the arrangement was reached between Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Egyptian intelligence chief Omer Suleiman, and that he himself was privy to every detail of the deal.