GAZA, (PIC)-- Bülent Yıldırım, president of the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, has said that his Foundation would buy five boats with the intent of sending relief material to the beleaguered Gaza Strip.

Yildirim in a statement to alresala.net website on Monday said that the boats would be launched in March or April 2010 and would be carrying food, medicine and construction material. He added that a senior Turkish delegation would be aboard those ships.

Asked about possible Israeli interception or piracy, he said that the sea is open for all and Israel has no right to intercept those boats according to the international laws.

Yildirim disclosed that his Foundation was under pressure by Israel and those supporting it in Turkey to stop aiding Gaza and the Palestinian people, "but they failed because the Turkish people sympathize with the Palestinian people".

IHH works in 120 countries to help the poor and the needy along with orphans and widows and is allocating a major portion of its assistance to support the Gaza people.

Yildirim stayed in Gaza for 20 days during the latest Israeli war.