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At Least 10 Killed In Israeli Raid On Gaza Aid Flotilla

31.05.2010 15:06

By RFE/RL

At least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed after Israeli commandos stormed a flotilla of ships carrying supplies for the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military early today carried out its threat to stop the six-ship convoy reaching the Gaza Strip with 10,000 tons of what the convoy organizers say is humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

Commandos, rappelling from helicopters, intercepted the flotilla at sea and forcefully ended their overnight voyage to Gaza from waters off Cyprus.

Each side has given conflicting accounts of the raid and the clashes that followed.

The main organizers, the Free Gaza Movement, said the commandos "began to shoot the moment their feet hit the deck" and accused them of firing directly at sleeping civilians.

But Israeli military spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich gave a different account. "Unfortunately, the passengers upon those ships practiced a great deal of violence, severe violence, against our soldiers," he said. "Practically, there was a lynch[ing against] our soldiers. It was preplanned."

Gunfire, Knives, Axes

Israeli officials claim the commandos in the boarding parties were met by gunfire, knives, and axes -- and opened fire only after they were attacked.

They say at least 10 activists were killed, with an unclear number injured. Some Israeli troops were also wounded.

A Turkish charity worker with the convoy said most of the dead are Turkish nationals.

The incident has touched off what looks like becoming a diplomatic row between longtime allies Turkey and Israel, whose relations have become increasingly fraught.

Ankara immediately issued a strong protest at the Israeli military action. Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Selim Yenel told RFE/RL that Ankara was withdrawing its ambassador from Israel and had called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.

Yenel said Israel's ambassador had been warned about "irreversible damage" to bilateral relations. He rejected Israeli claims that Turkish ships, which had been inspected by the NATO country, may have been smuggling weapons.

"This happened in international waters, and this was a gross violation of international law," Yenel said. "We have called in the Israeli ambassador here. We said that this was a gross violation of international law because this was a convoy carrying only humanitarian goods. [It was] a peaceful initiative, and this cannot be accepted at all."

'Armada Of Hate'

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc has called an emergency meeting with senior security officials -- including the minister of the interior, the navy chief, and the army's head of operations. Turkish security forces were reinforced at the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul today after scores of angry demonstrators briefly broke into the compound.

At a Jerusalem news conference, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon took a hard line, saying: "The armada of hate and violence in support of the Hamas terror organization was a premeditated and outrageous provocation. The organizers are well-known for their ties to global jihad, Al-Qaeda, and Hamas. They have a history of arms smuggling and deadly terror."

Ayalon defended the four-year-old sea blockade of Gaza as legal because the ruling Hamas organization there has ties to international terrorism. Hamas reacted by calling the Israeli raid a crime.

"We in Hamas consider the Israeli attack on the freedom flotilla to be a great crime and a flagrant violation of international law," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters in Gaza City. "In spite of the great damages suffered by the people in solidarity on board this fleet, we consider that this fleet's message has been delivered."

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad denounced the Israeli attack as "inhuman," saying it brought Israel "closer than ever to its end."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "shocked" about the attack and called for a full investigation.

White House spokesman William Burton expressed "deep regrets" over the loss of life. Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned in a statement the "crude violation" of international law in the deadly raid.

In Brussels, ambassadors from the 27-member European Union are to hold an emergency meeting later today to discuss the incident. France and Germany also expressed concern, while UN human rights chief Navi Pillay expressed "shock" at the violence. The EU's foreign-policy chief, Catherin Ashton, demanded Israel hold a "full inquiry."

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is currently visiting Canada, said he was postponing a scheduled visit to Washington to return to Israel. He had been set to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.

written by Breffni O'Rourke, with contributions from RFE/RL correspondent Robert Tait and agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/Casualties_As_Israeli_Ships_Attack_Aid_Flotilla/2057229.html

Copyright (c) 2010. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.