Here comes the second wave.
At least one ship (and maybe more) chartered by pro-Palestinian activists intent on breaking Israel’s naval blockade is headed to Gaza.
They are expected to arrive Friday night or Saturday morning — if Israel permits it.
That’s not likely — nor should it be.
Israel has every right to keep Iran and other enemies from supplying rockets, mortar shells and other weapons to Hamas — which is why the blockade was established in the first place.
Here’s hoping it can be maintained without further loss of life — but if not, blame devolves on Turkey and the terrorist group Ankara permitted to mount the convoy in the first place.
True, this time around, the ships are coming not from Turkey — which is trying to establish itself as the Mideast’s leading Muslim power — but from Ireland, whose prime minister warned of “the most serious consequences . . . if any harm comes to any of our citizens.”
Among those on board the lead ship are Nobel peace laureate Mairead Corrigan and former UN deputy secretary general Denis Halliday.
It’s unfortunate that the Irish government has aligned itself with the supporters of Hamas — and a little odd, too, given the Emerald Isle’s relatively recent agonies at the hands of terrorists.
And terrorism is the issue here.
Again, forcing Israel to end its blockade would mean a deluge of missiles and other weapons — of the sort that Israel has twice intercepted in the past.
Just last November, recall, Israel confiscated 200 tons of weapons bound for Hezbollah on board the Francop, an Antiguan-flagged ship that was stopped off the coast of Cyprus.
That Israel is willing to suffer the international obloquy to which it is now being subjected rather than end the blockade underscores its continued importance.
And not just to the Jewish state.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted yesterday, “the same countries that are criticizing us today should know that they could be targeted tomorrow.”
Given Turkey’s slouch toward Islamic radicalism and Iran’s emerging nuclear-power status, the Mideast is more dangerous now than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
The stakes could hardly be higher.
Israel must be supported.