“Although we are all disappointed, we are more determined than ever to highlight the conditions in Gaza and to break the blockade. The conditions on the ground dramatically contradict the propaganda used by the Israeli establishment when trying to undermine the flotilla. 66% of people in Gaza are food insecure, with 80% relying on foreign aid and 300,000 people living on less than a $1 a day. These are all figures that have worsened dramatically since the imposition of the blockade of Gaza, designed as a collective punishment of the people of Gaza.

“I would like to thank all of the organisers of the Irish Ship to Gaza and the Freedom Flotilla II campaign for having put in herculean efforts to build the flotilla. It was an inspiring experience to be struggling alongside so many others to get to Gaza and I am fully confident that we will return once more to break the blockade.

“The revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East give us enormous hope that even the horrific oppression by the Israeli state can be defeated by a mass movement. I will be working with my sister party in Israeli/Palestine, the Socialist Struggle Movement, to build a united movement of Palestinians, the Arab masses generally, and Israeli Jewish workers to defeat the right-wing Israeli establishment and fight for a genuinely independent socialist Palestine alongside a socialist Israel as part of a socialist confederation of the region.”

On June 24, an anonymous complaint was filed against the ship's "seaworthiness". The Israel Law Centre (Shurat HaDin), took responsibility for the complaint in the Israeli media.

On Saturday Yigal Palmor, Israel's foreign ministry spokesperson dismissed the sabotage charges levelled against Israeli faction as "ridiculous," calling them "sad conspiracy theories".