10,000 tons of humanitarian aid, with an estimated value of $20 million. The cargo included food, wheelchairs, books, toys, electricity generators, operating theater equipment, medicines, medical equipment, textiles, footwear, cash, mobility scooters, sofas, and building materials, such as cement, which are prohibited under the Israeli blockade, although Israel offered to allow the cement to enter Gaza, if the flotilla were to dock in Ashdod. Israeli news reported the flotilla to be carrying ballistic vests, gas masks, night-vision goggles, clubs, and slingshots, although the UNHRC report does not mention these items and in the Turkish Report on the Israeli attack on the Humanitarian Aid Convoy to Gaza it states that all passengers and crew as well as the cargo were searched to international standards and no weapons were found, on the ships departing from Turkey. Two-thirds of the medicines delivered by the flotilla expired between six and fifteen months prior to the raid, and were found to be useless. Operating theater equipment, which was supposed to be kept sterile, was carelessly wrapped. The expiring medications and sensitive equipment were kept in frozen storage in the Israeli Defense Ministry before delivery to Gaza. Passengers In previous voyages, Free Gaza vessels carried 140 passengers in total. In this flotilla, over 600 activists were on board the Mavi Marmara alone. There were 663 passengers from 37 nations on board the flotilla. Notable people aboard the flotilla included former UN Assistant Secretary-General Denis Halliday, former U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania Edward Peck, and survivor Joe Meadors. Israeli-Arab member of Knesset Haneen Zoubi, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel Raed Salah, Swedish novelist Henning Mankell, convicted hijacker Erdinç Tekir, who participated in the Black Sea hijacking, and a number of parliamentarians from European and Arab national legislatures and the European Parliament. Ties with groups marked as terror organizations In June 2010 U.S. Assistant Secretary of State P. J. Crowley told reporters Wednesday: "'We know that IHH representatives have met with senior Hamas officials in Turkey, Syria and Gaza over the past three years,'" and "'That is obviously of great concern to us.'" The AP was quoted on msnbc The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, France's former top anti-terrorism judge said Wednesday.