Turkish TV footage appeared to show Israeli troops on board
More than 10 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.
Armed forces boarded the largest vessel overnight, clashing with some of the 500 people on board.
It happened about 40 miles (64 km) out to sea, in international waters.
Israel says its soldiers were shot at and attacked with weapons; the activists say Israeli troops came on board shooting.
The European Union has called for an inquiry to establish what happened.
'Guns and knives'
The six-ship flotilla, carrying 10,000 tonnes of aid, left the coast of Cyprus on Sunday and had been due to arrive in Gaza on Monday.
Israel says its soldiers boarded the lead ship in the early hours but were attacked with axes, knives, bars and at least two guns.
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We were not going to pose any violent resistance
Audrey Bomse Free Gaza Movement
"Unfortunately this group were dead-set on confrontation," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told the BBC.
"Live fire was used against our forces. They initiated the violence, that's 100% clear," he said.
Organisers of the flotilla said at least 30 people were wounded in the incident. Israel says 10 of its soldiers were injured, one seriously.
A leader of Israel's Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, who was on board, was among those hurt.
Audrey Bomse, a spokesperson for the Free Gaza Movement, which is behind the convoy, told the BBC Israel's actions were disproportionate.
"We were not going to pose any violent resistance. The only resistance that there might be would be passive resistance such as physically blocking the steering room, or blocking the engine room downstairs, so that they couldn't get taken over. But that was just symbolic resistance."
She said there was "absolutely no evidence of live fire".
Israel says it will tow the boats to the port of Ashdod and deport the passengers from there. It says it will deliver the ships' aid to Gaza.
Condemnation
Turkish TV pictures taken on board the Turkish ship leading the flotilla appeared to show Israeli soldiers fighting to control passengers.
The footage showed a number of people, apparently injured, lying on the ground. A woman was seen holding a blood-stained stretcher.
Al-Jazeera TV reported from the same ship that Israeli navy forces had opened fire and boarded the vessel, wounding the captain.
The Al-Jazeera broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, saying: "Everybody shut up!"
Israel's deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said his country "regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome".
He accused the convoy of a "premeditated and outrageous provocation", describing the flotilla as an "armada of hate".
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel's actions, saying it had committed a massacre.
Most of the people on board the boats were Turkish.
Turkey said it "strongly condemn[ed] these inhumane practices of Israel", AFP news agency reported.
In Turkey, dozens of protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate in the Istanbul, while Israeli ambassadors have been summoned to the Turkish, Greek and Spanish foreign ministries to explain what happened.
Blockade
Israel had repeatedly said it would stop the boats, calling the campaign a "provocation intended to delegitimise Israel".
Israel and Egypt tightened a blockade of Gaza after the Islamist movement Hamas took power there in 2007.
Israel says it allows about 15,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza every week.
But the United Nations says this is less than a quarter of what is needed.
The incident comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington after one of the most strained periods in US-Israeli relations in years. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
Damien Pearse and Alex Watts, Sky News Online
Israeli commandos have stormed an international aid convoy bound for Gaza leaving up to 19 dead in what has been condemned as a "massacre".
Soldiers armed with rifles and dressed in black dropped down ropes onto a Turkish ship in a deadly dawn raid.
They opened fire after activists apparently attacked them with iron bars, axes and knives.
Israeli officials said activists had tried to "lynch" one of the commandos and blamed the violence on passengers.
At least 10 activists - believed to be Turkish nationals - were among the dead, the Israeli army said.
A number of Greeks and Irish were aboard the flotilla, with at least one Greek national said to be severely injured.
There were unconfirmed reports that senior Arab Israeli Islamist leader Raed Salah had been badly hurt in the clashes.
The raid was widely condemned by the international community, with France, Sweden, Greece and Turkey among countries denouncing Israel.
Turkey warned Israel of "irreparable consequences" following the deaths and said the incident was "unacceptable".
A Foreign Ministry statement said: "We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel.
"This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a fragrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations," it added.
Israel blamed the activists for the violence but expressed regret for the deaths.
"They initiated the violence," Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News.
Pro-Islamic activists stand on the deck of a Turkish ship shortly before Israeli warships allegedly attacked
Activists aboard one of the flotilla boats prepare for the commando raid
"We made every possible effort to avoid this incident. The servicemen were given instructions that it was to be a police operation and to use maximum restraint.
"Unfortunately they were attacked with deadly force by the people on the boats - with iron bars, knives and live fire."
The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the deaths as a "massacre".
Israeli sailors on warship
An Israeli warship heads out to stop the Gaza-bound aid flotilla
Hamas meanwhile urged Arabs and Muslims to "rise up" in front of Israeli embassies across the globe in protest.
"We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
There were already plans for protests in Athens and outside Downing Street in London.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called for a "full inquiry" into the raid
Palestinians wave national flags at the port of Gaza
Flag-waving Palestinians await the flotilla in Gaza port before the ship raid
Greece summoned Israel's ambassador to demand an "immediate" report on the safety of about 30 Greeks on board one of the ships.
France and Sweden condemned the raid as "unjustifiable" and "unacceptable".
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the attack as "inhuman," saying it brought Tehran's arch-foe "closer than ever to its end."
The pictures make the operation look cack-handed from the start. Commandos rappel down ropes straight into a crowd of activists wielding bars. They appear overwhelmed at first and in insufficient numbers, unable to seize control.
Sky's Middle East correspondent Dominic Waghorn
The bloodshed came on the eve of a meeting in Washington between Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Sky's Middle East correspondent Dominic Waghorn said: "There already was much debate in Israel about the wisdom of blocking this flotilla from a PR point of view.
"Israel will defend this action by saying it is in a state of war with Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip and therefore can block anything moving into and out of the area.
"But whatever the legalities storming an aid armada with commandos was never going to look good for Israel.
"Israel calls this a provocation flotilla. It insists it gave its organisers plenty of opprortunities to land their aid in Israel and have it transferred overland.
"Israel believes its blockade of Gaza is weakening Hamas and they are determined to prevent the embargo being lifted by sea." _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
Israeli naval commandos stormed a flotilla of civilian aid ships bringing aid to the besieged Gaza Strip overnight, killing at least two people and wounding dozens.
As estimates of the numbers killed in the high seas raid on the Gaza flotilla soared to as many as 16 in the Turkish and Israeli media, Israel’s military censor slapped a ban on any reporting of the toll of dead and injured. Some of the wounded and were being ferried to hospitals inside Israel for treatment.
The Israeli army admitted a “number of deaths” in the operation and the government and expressed its sorrow at the fatalities, but said its troops were attacked with knives and metal pipes and one of its soldiers’ rifles was grabbed by an activist.
Television pictures from the controversial night raid showed Israeli boats closing in on at least one aid ship and others rapelling from helicopters on to the ship’s deck, into a chaotic melee of fighting with sticks and fists. Bloody stretchers and wounded people lying wounded on the deck in the aftermath of the raid indicated the extent of violence that broke out.
The Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas slammed the deadly raid as “a massacre” and announced a three-day mourning period.
European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton demanded Israeli authorities mount a “full inquiry” into the deaths, and urged Israel to allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
In Turkey, where an Islamic charity had sponsored the six-vessel fleet as it took aid and activists to Gaza, an angry crowd of protestors tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul before being pushed back by police. The Turkish foreign ministry called the Israeli act “unacceptable” and summoned the Israeli ambassador to explain the violence, as anti-Israeli demonstrations were also staged in Lebanon.
Greece and Sweden have summonsed the Israeli ambassadors to explain the raid and report on the safety of their citizens on board the flotilla, while Kuwait's cabinet is to hold an emergency meeting later today regarding the convoy, which also includes 15 Kuwaiti nationals and an MP.
Israel had vowed to prevent the fleet from arriving in Gaza, sending three missile boats from the northern port of Haifa last night to stop them and force them into the southern port of Ashdod, close to the Gaza Strip. The military said it would allow the activists to put the aid in Israel’s care for delivery by land to Gaza.
Turkish television showed armed and masked Israeli troops brandishing guns as they stood on the deck of one of the boarded ships. There were reports of at least one Israeli soldier being stabbed in the stomach in the fighting that ensued when Israeli troops boarded the small fleet.
The convoy had been carrying thousands of tons of aid, including prefabricated building material and electric wheelchairs, as well as hundreds of supporters from a variety of countries. The flotilla had set out from Cyprus on Sunday and been intercepted late at night in international waters as it steamed towards Gaza. Israeli naval officers warned the aid ships to turn back before boarding them.
The flotilla’s organizers had already complained of Israeli harassment even before they left Cyprus, accusing Israeli agents of blocking satellite signals and other communications equipment necessary for their safe navigation, and twice delaying their departure.
Among the 600 or so passengers on the ships were Mairead Corrigan Maguire, an Irish Nobel peace laureate, several Euro MPs , and an elderly Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. The aim of the fleet was to highlight the three-year Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza, imposed after the Islamist movement Hamas fought a bloody civil war for control of the coastal enclave with its secular rivals Fatah.
Israel, which had allowed some of the previous aid fleets to enter Gaza, while blocking others, said that it delivered humanitarian aid to Gaza, though aid organizations have said the amounts allowed in are too low for the reconstruction efforts needed after Israel launched a devastating offensive in Gaza 18 months ago to stem Hamas rocket fire into Israel.
Several more ships were scheduled to leave Cyprus for Gaza in the coming days, and organisers said they would not be deterred by the violence. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà
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: 16.04.2006 : 234
: , 31 2010, 13:45:22 :
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The latest on the Gaza flotilla raid on thetimes.co.uk
The Turkish charity at the centre of the raid by Israeli forces on an aid vessel in the Mediterranean was under intense scrutiny last night over its alleged links with militant organisations.
Despite their claims to be an entirely peaceful organisation, The Foundation for Human Rights, Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) has a history of involvement in Islamic extremism around the world and has been linked with an attempted bombing of an airport in the US.
The charity had 40 members on the Turkish-owned ship Mavi Marmara when it was boarded by Israeli Navy commandos on Monday. Nine people died in the operation.
Israeli security sources said that about 40 people set upon their commandos as they abseiled from a helicopter on to the upper deck of the ship, armed primarily with paintball guns intended for use in crowd control. The troops found themselves facing a crowd armed with metal pipes, knives and stun grenades.
The activists tied the rope used by the soldiers to a railing on the ship, in the hope of bringing down the helicopter, officials said — forcing the commander to cut the rope and leave four commandos on the deck below.
Security sources said that the assailants used a saw to cut metal bars from the ship’s railings.
The IHH, which Israel says has links with the Palestinian group Hamas, first gained attention in the 1990s. Jean-Louis Bruguière, a French investigating magistrate and an authority on counter-terrorism, has said that in the mid-1990s the group’s leader, Bulent Yildirim, made efforts to “recruit veteran soldiers in anticipation of the coming holy war. In particular, some men were sent into war zones in Muslim countries in order to acquire combat experience”.
Mr Bruguière testified at the US trial of Ahmed Ressam, dubbed the Millennium Bomber, that the IHH had played an important role in a failed plot to bomb Los Angeles airport.
A 2006 report by the Danish Institute for International Studies described the group as a front for funding terrorist organisations and sending Mujahidin to fight in countries such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya. The IHH, which is not on US or European terrorist lists, denies accusations of ties to terrorist groups.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre (ITIC) — an Israel-based NGO with close ties to the country’s military — does not dispute the IHH’s legitimate philanthropic activities, but it says it is an overt supporter of Hamas, branded by Israel, the EU and US as a terrorist organisation. The ITIC says it has evidence that the IHH has helped to provide weapons and funds for Islamic terrorist groups in the Middle East.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that some security officials believed there was a link between the ship, which was purchased for the trip by the IHH, and Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK).
The IHH had been unable to charter a ship for the risky voyage, and had resorted to buying the Mavi Marmara for ˆ900,000 (£750,000); money it said it had raised from its members in Turkey. It also bought the 10,000 tonnes of aid intended for Gaza, including electric wheelchairs and pre-fabricated houses.
General Richard Myers, former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Times yesterday that there was substantial evidence of some charitable organisations being exploited by extremist groups for their own ends. “A lot of wealthy benefactors providing donations for humanitarian relief don’t know what they’re funding. They think they’re doing something for welfare and education,” he said.
As Israel began deporting hundreds of foreign activists detained when its commandos stormed the Gaza aid flotilla, fresh details emerged yesterday of the group’s preparations for the raid.
According to reports in the Israeli press, some of the men who tackled the commandos were equipped with night-vision goggles, gas masks and life vests. Others had ceramic vests to stop bullets, security officials said.
About a hundred of the passengers were carrying wads of $10,000 on them — a total of about $1 million; money the authorities say was bound for Hamas, which controls Gaza.
Vahdettin Kaygan, a spokesman for IHH, denied accusations that it had links with militant Islamist groups and said that it operated as a charity in 120 countries around the world. It was set up in 1992 to help Bosnian Muslims and had carried out missions in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Indonesia and Iraq, as well as running previous aid ships to Gaza.
“We don’t have anything against Israel. Our only aim was to carry aid to the people of Gaza. But for Israel, regardless of your religion or your nationality, if you help the people of Gaza you will be declared a terrorist,” the IHH said in a statement.
All 37 British citizens detained by Israeli forces during the raid were released without charge yesterday. Israel said last night that 527 activists had left the country.
The Britons, who had been held in a detention centre in Beersheba since their arrest on Monday, were taken to Ben Gurion airport yesterday afternoon and flown to Turkey. Most of them are expected to arrive in London this morning. _________________ A la guerre comme a la guerre èëè âòîðàÿ ðåäàêöèÿ Çàáóãîðíîâà