THE Inquirer?s June 4 Editorial fell prey to a well-orchestrated international media campaign to discredit and delegitimize the State of Israel. Readers should be aware of the facts as they are.

Situation in Gaza. Israel got out of Gaza in 2005. It was a unilateral Israeli step in hope of creating a good environment for peace negotiation. What followed was the takeover by Hamas, an extremist Islamic organization. This organization decided to turn the whole of Gaza strip into a launch pad for thousands of missiles directed at Israeli towns and villages.

The blockade. To prevent Hamas from arming itself, Israel enforced a legal maritime blockade on the Gaza strip. Sea blockade (where navies routinely stop vessels for inspection) is a common and legitimate tool used by navies around the world to fend off attacks and violence.

Options of the flotilla. All this was known to the organizers of the so-called ?aid flotilla?; they were offered to unload at the Israeli port of Ashdod with the guarantee that all their humanitarian supplies would be transferred from there to Gaza. If they had agreed, their humanitarian aid would have reached Gaza and the loss of human lives could have been completely avoided. But the leaders of the flotilla still chose to defy the Israeli blockade and ignored the warning and all other offers because they wanted to create a provocation and forcefully break a legal maritime blockade. Theirs was not a peaceful plan.

The soldiers. The soldiers meant to inspect the ship and escort it to Ashdod. Not expecting a violent reaction from the people on board, they carried a paintball gun, taser, tear gas and other non-lethal weapons, but they were brutally attacked by the people on the ship and had to protect themselves.

The ?peace activists.? The goal of the so-called ?peace activists? was to open a marine route that would allow Hamas to receive shipments of arms and explosives from Iran and other sources?to be used to terrorize hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians in Southern Israel as they did for years.

Detention in Israel. All activists were detained in Israel for two days; those who needed medical care were sent to hospitals. They were allowed to leave Israel without any legal proceedings. They were neither tortured nor badly treated. Those stories are simply lies. Unfortunately, people will hear much more of the stories in the coming days as part of the propaganda blitz against Israel.

Humanitarian supply in Gaza. Every day, 150 to 200 trucks (carrying 15,000 tons of needed supplies each week) are allowed entry into the Gaza strip. Peace activists and real aid flotillas have only to bring their Gaza-bound supplies to the port of Ashdod. From there, these will be transported, after security check, to the Gaza strip.

I hope readers will be able to distinguish the truth from the media hype. Rest assured, though, that Israel will do what is needed to secure its citizens even as it is open to negotiation with those who are willing to talk responsibly about a real future for our region.

?AMBASSADOR ZVI VAPNI,

Embassy of Israel