The White House said on Friday Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable and urged a Gaza aid vessel sent by pro-Palestinian activists to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the riskofviolence.

"We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," said Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

"The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations, ” Hammer said in a statement.

Israel was preparing to intercept the Irish-owned ship the Rachel Corrie, bound for Gaza with aid and activists, after its naval operation on Monday in which nine Turkish activists were killed on another ship when it was boarded by Israeli forces.

"It remains a US priority to provide assistance to the people of Gaza," Hammer said.

”In the interest of the safety of all involved, and the safe transmission of assistance to the people of Gaza, we strongly encourage those on

board the Rachel Corrie and other vessels to sail to Ashdod to deliver their materials to Gaza," he said, referring to the Israeli port.

TURKISH PROBE ISRAELI LEADERS

Turkish prosecutors have launched an investigation against top Israeli leaders over the raid on aid ships bound for Gaza which left nine people dead, Turkish press reports said yesterday.

If the prosecutor's office in Bakirkoy, Istanbul, compiles enough evidence, it will press charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, the English-language Today's Zaman said.

The charges would include murder, injury, attacking Turkish citizens on the open seas and piracy, it added.

GAZA ACTIVISTS WERE HIT 30TIMES

Nine Turkish activists killed in an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship were shot a total of 30 times and five died of gunshot wounds to the head, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Friday.

Autopsy results showed the men were hit mostly with 9mm bullets, many fired at close range, the Guardian said, quoting Yalcin Buyuk, vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine which carried out the autopsies on Friday.