Hamas naval
policemen, holding Palestinian flags, patrol the sea off the coast
of Gaza City in preparation for the arrival of the so-called
"Freedom Flotilla". Picture: AFP Source: AFP
ISRAEL is trying censor coverage of the deaths of as many
as 10 people after its navy stormed a convoy of boats carrying
pro-Palestinian activists bound for Gaza.
The Jewish state's army radio said between 10 and 14 people had
been killed in clashes which broke out after the passengers
allegedly tried to grab weapons off the naval commandos who tried
to storm one of the boats.
The military was trying to censor information on casualties brought
to Israel for treatment, Israeli radio said. It is immediately
unknown whether the dead and injured were passengers or members of
the Israeli navy.
The flotilla - carrying tons of humanitarian aid destined for the
Gaza Strip - was intercepted after the Israeli navy had tracked it
throughout the night.
Israeli commandos descended from helicopters shortly before dawn
after the ships had changed course around midnight in an attempt to
avoid a confrontation with the military 124 kilometres off the
coast of Israel.
Passengers of the so-called Freedom Flotilla immediately put on
life jackets and were on high alert, according to the international
group. A reporter from Al-Jazeera television on board said they
decided to continue their efforts to reach the Gaza coast but
changed course to gain time and try to reach the enclave during the
day.
Israeli officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told the
German Press Agency dpa that the military had communicated with the
organisers of the flotilla by radio, asked them to identify
themselves and gave them the option to follow the navy to the
Israeli port of Ashdod, 30 kilometres north of the Strip, or to
return to their departure ports.
The ships decided to continue to Gaza. The organizers of the
flotilla last week rejected an Israeli offer to unload their aid at
Ashdod, where it would be inspected before being transferred to the
Gaza Strip.
The flotilla, carrying 700 activists and 10,000 tons of
humanitarian aid, set off from Cyprus yesterday afternoon on the
last leg of what organisers hoped would be a successful attempt to
break Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip.
Israel vowed to stop them, said it would arrest all the passengers
on board and take them to a special detention facility set up in
Ashdod, where they would be questioned and asked to leave the
country voluntarily.
Israel placed the Gaza Strip under siege in 2006 after militants
based in the enclave launched a cross-border raid on an Israeli
army outpost and snatched an Israeli soldier, who is still being
held somewhere in the salient.
The blockade was tightened further in June 2007 when gunmen from
the Islamist Hamas movement routed security officers loyal to the
Palestinian Authority and President Mahmoud Abbas and seized
control of the Strip.
Since then, Israel has kept tight control over the border
crossings, supervising the aid allowed to enter the Gaza Strip and
at times stopping it temporarily when militants launch rockets at
Israeli communities adjacent to the enclave.
Hamas has reacted strongly to the deadly raid, urging Arabs and
Muslims to "rise up'' in front of Israeli embassies across the
globe.
"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, using the Arabic word 'intifada'.
Ismail Haniya, the Islamist movement's prime minister in Gaza,
slammed the "ugly attack'' in a statement in which he called for
``the United Nations to protect the activists'' on board the
boats.
Turkey's foreign ministry has warned that the raid may lead to
"irreparable consequences'' in bilateral ties.
"We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel,'' a
written statement said.
"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 said.
The Israeli ambassador was summoned to the Turkish foreign ministry
today after Israeli forces stormed a Turkish aid ship, a Turkish
diplomat said.
"The ambassador (Gabby Levy) was summoned to the foreign ministry.
We will convey our reaction in the strongest terms,'' the diplomat,
who asked not to be named, said.
AFP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/israel-kills-10-in-raid-on-boat-convoy-bound-for-gaza-reports/story-e6frg6so-1225873609367