The 700 passenger Freedom Flotilla sailing from Turkey to Gaza is expected to enter Israeli waters anytime today. Israel has said it would intercept the convoy and have sent out eight ships from the Israel Navy headquarters for this purpose. "The aid convoy is violent propaganda against Israel, and Israel will not allow its sovereignty to be threatened in any way, in any place - land, air or sea," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. Israel has said it would overtake the ships in what it has dubbed "Operation Sky Winds" as soon as they enter a 20-mile Israeli-controlled zone off Gaza. After that, the ships would be towed to the port of Ashdod, where the foreign activists would be arrested and deported.

The flotilla, which is aimed at defying the siege on Gaza, is said to be carrying tons of humanitarian aid, ready-made houses and construction materials.

Meanwhile on May 28, the Israeli air force launched five airstrikes in Gaza in response to Palestinian rockets. Israel says it targeted a tunnel in southern Gaza and what they say is a weapons manufacturing site in the northern Strip.

On May 26, 30 Palestinians were wounded in another Israeli air strike in Beit Hanoun. In a separate incident three men were wounded by Israeli gunfire at the border with Israel. Israel said this strike had targeted a Hamas military base.

Also in Gaza, 40 masked men raided and burned down UNRWA's largest summer camp on May 23, which is built on 18 dunams of land near the Gaza City shore. The camp was slated to hold the Summer Games for up to 4,500 Gazan children throughout the summer with several activities and sports events. Apparently, the men beat the security guard before handing him a letter made out to UNRWA chief of operations John Ging. Inside, the threat note was to Ging and two of his employees along with four bullets.

The unknown assailants apparently oppose the mixed-sex camps held by UNRWA, which they view as contradictory to traditional norms and culture. Ging, for his part, has vowed to rebuild the camp and hold the Summer Games as scheduled. The Presidential office in Ramallah condemned the arson in a statement, calling it an "act of cowardice."

Meanwhile, Israel has come under attack from Defense for Children International – Palestine Chapter, which on May 28 issued a report documenting the testimonies of children arrested by Israeli occupation forces. According to the report, DCI collected 100 detailed depositions from Palestinian minors between 12 and 17 years of age arrested throughout last year. The depositions were gathered immediately after their release.

According to the report, 69 minors complained of being beaten by Israeli soldiers (slaps, kicks, blows with a rifle stock or club). Nearly all those who gave depositions, or 97 percent, including children aged 12 to 15 - were held for hours with their hands cuffed while 92 percent were blindfolded for long periods of time. Twenty-six percent said they were forced to remain in painful positions. What's more, four minors reported being sexually assaulted with 12 saying they were threatened with sexual assault. The threat was accompanied by physical violence.

Also in regards to Palestinian prisoners on May 26, the Knesset ministerial committee approved the Shalit Law. The bill would place restrictions on Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Israeli jails in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing captured Israeli prisoner Gilad Shalit. Some of these restrictions include no family visits or even visits from lawyers.

The week was also wracked with settler violence and expansion. On May 28, 14 rabbis and 25 settlement leaders signed a letter calling for mass protests at settlement junctions to show the Israeli army that they would meet with obstacles if the latter chooses to try and evacuate outposts. "Any attempt to demolish buildings will involve clashes in the streets, before the act and after the retreat," the letter said, which was circulated to 15,000 homes in illegal West Bank settlements.

In the Jordan Valley, settlers and construction workers continued to expand the Meskiot settlement in the Valley, all under Israeli army protection, according to Marwan Toubasi, governor of Toubas and the northern Jordan Valley. According to Toubasi, the construction includes 20 new housing units, despite the fact that Israel is still bound to its 10-month freeze on settlement building.

Settlers also clashed with Palestinian residents of Silwan in east Jerusalem on May 25. Ten people were wounded in the confrontations, including a pregnant Palestinian woman who was beaten by soldiers.

Also in Jerusalem, residents of the Sheikh Sa'ad village in east Jerusalem complained that they were trapped in their village and could not drive or sometimes even walk through the Israeli checkpoint at its entrance towards Jerusalem. According to an Israeli military order, the residences should be able to drive or walk out 24 hours a day. However, most of the time the traffic light at the entrance of the village, which opens or closes the checkpoint, remains red. The village, which falls between Jerusalem and the West Bank, has approximately 3,000 residents, with 1,200 of them who carry Palestinian ID's. The rest are Jerusalem residents but without free access to their own city.

In Beit Safafa, Mahmoud Ali Saleh received on May 23, a demolition order from Israeli authorities for three barracks in which his family now lives. Saleh was kicked out of his home months ago by Jewish settlers who claimed the house for themselves.

In the West Bank on May 25, Israeli authorities handed demolition orders to nine families from the village of Yitma near Nablus. Thirteen other families have received similar orders recently in the village even though most of the houses have been built for years. In Hebron on May 24, four families received orders for the confiscation of wide areas of land in order to open a road between the settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of the city.

Jewish settlers showed their objection to the new Palestinian city of Rawabi on the outskirts of Ramallah. On May 23, settlers set up a tent with an Israeli flag at the entrance to the construction project and where a new road is slated to be opened leading to the city.

In the meantime, President Abbas looks like he will be visiting US President Barack Obama on June 9. On May 27, the White House confirmed that Abbas would be visiting Washington almost a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Obama. Both meetings are in order to discuss the progress of proximity talks and how to transition into direct negotiations.