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 Bloody Israeli Convoy Raid Sparks Fierce International Reaction

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 31.05.2010 18:02

By RFE/RL

There has been sharp international criticism of the military action by Israel in seizing an aid convoy of foreign ships that tried to break through the Israeli naval cordon to reach Gaza.

At least 10 rights activists were killed in fighting that broke out when Israeli commandos boarded some of the ships.

Turkey, which has long had friendly relations with Israel, was among the first countries to denounce the Israeli interception.

Turkish Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Selim Yenel told RFE/RL that Israel’s ambassador had been warned about "irreversible damage" to bilateral relations. He rejected Israeli claims that the 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." Most of the hundreds of rights activists aboard the six vessels of the convoy were Turkish, and the flotilla mainly consisted of Turkish-flagged ships. The 10 or more activists who were killed were mostly Turks too, according to reports.

Yenel said Turkey was withdrawing its ambassador from Israel and had called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Lebanon, the current council president, later called an emergency council meeting on the crisis for later on May 31.

Regret, Condemnation

In Istanbul, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in protest. Earlier, police struggled to hold back an angry crowd who stormed the gates of the Israeli consulate there.

In Brussels, ambassadors from the 27-member European Union are to hold an emergency meeting later today to discuss the incident.

EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton said she had spoken to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and "expressed our deepest concern about the tragedy that has happened. I have said there should be an immediate inquiry by Israel."

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

In the United States, White House spokesman William Burton expressed "deep regrets" over the loss of life.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas declared three days of mourning, and Arab League chief Amr Musa called the raid a crime against a humanitarian mission and called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League.

Differing Accounts

Each side has given conflicting accounts of the dramatic early-morning 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.

"We were a flotilla of six civilian ships and at about 4:30 this morning Israeli ’commandos,’ if that’s what you want to call them, rappelled down off a helicopter and landed at least on the deck of the Turkish [ship], not sure about the other one, looked around and started to shoot at us," the movement’s Greta Berlin told RFE/RL.

But Israel says it was the activists who attacked first, with "live fire" as well as knives, before its forces opened fire.

’Armada Of Hate’

At a Jerusalem news conference, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon took a hard line in defense of Israel’s actions.

"The armada of hate and violence in support of the Hamas terror organization was a premeditated and outrageous provocation," Ayalon said. "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 are terrorists. 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".

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is currently visiting Canada, said he was postponing a scheduled visit to Washington to return to Israel.

written by Breffni O’Rourke, with contributions from RFE/RL correspondent Robert Tait, Anna Zamejc of RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service, and agency reports

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

 Interview: ’We Are Not Terrorists,’ Gaza Activist Says

May 31, 2010

At least 10 pro-Palestinian activists were killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying supplies for the Gaza Strip on May 31.

Greta Berlin, co-founder of the Free Gaza Movement, an organizer of the convoy, spoke with RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service correspondent Anna Zamejc about the deadly event.

RFE/RL: What happened this morning?

Greta Berlin: We were attacked by Israeli militaries. We were flotilla, six civilian ships and about 4:30 this morning Israeli "commandos," if that’s what you want to call them, rappelled down off a helicopter and landed at least on the deck of the Turkish [ship], not sure about the other one, looked around and started to shoot at us.

They have killed 10 people that we know of — that’s the number I’m going to stick with right now until I get further confirmation. Then they commandeered the ships and forced them to go in the Ashdod port. They were several members of parliament on board, including MPs from Sweden, Norway, and Germany. We were 70 miles off the coast of Israel, they attacked us. That is a crime; they committed a crime on international waters.

RFE/RL: The Israeli officials say there were weapons aboard the flotilla to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip, which was the reason Israeli commandos stormed the ship. Is that true?

Berlin: I suppose, if you consider the paper and wheelchairs and crutches weapons, then the Israelis might have a point. Look, everyone on those ships was inspected before we left. The only weapons that were on board belonged to the Israelis. They might have planted them — after all they stormed us and they killed us.

All you have to do is to look at the statistics what actually happened. We have at least 10 people dead, they were civilians! They stormed our boats! We have manifest on every one of those boats that say what is on those boats. And it was 4:30 in the morning when everybody is sleeping.

I will venture to say that Israel is lying about this, because the weapons that I saw coming on board this morning belonged to Israel.

RFE/RL: So you claim Israel planted the weapons after they stormed the ship?

Berlin: If there were weapons, they planted those weapons.

RFE/RL: You said that so far 10 people have been confirmed dead. What nationalities were they?

Berlin: I don’t know yet, we have heard nothing. We have heard nothing from the ships, they’ve jammed all our communication, they took all our cell phones away, we have not been able to communicate with anybody since 3:30 this morning, Cyprus time.

RFE/RL: They were also rumors that Muslim leader Raed Salah is among the casualties. But this is something you haven’t confirmed yet, right?

Berlin: Yes, it’s what I’ve heard but we haven’t confirmed it. Nobody has any firm information about people who were killed and wounded.

RFE/RL: This was not the first time you went to Gaza with aid. How many times have you sent those ships to the Gaza Strip and why was the last convoy stormed by Israel?

Berlin: Since August 2009 the Free Gaza Movement has gone nine times to Gaza. The first five we entered Gaza, we took members of parliament on our yard and nothing was done to us. There were many, many threats. Israel has threatened us all along, the last thing they want is for the people of Gaza to be free and to be able to rebuild their society. We went in five times, the last three were brutally stopped and we only had one boat. So the Free Gaza Movement along with four other partners said: "We would not go back to Gaza again unless we have a flotilla. We need to take something substantive, not just sort of a token that says: ’we support your desire to be free.’ We want to take back a substantive amount of supplies and take them into Gaza." And that’s what we get.

Israel is terrified that if we open up a sea route to Gaza, Gaza eventually will be free and will have its own might to do its own trade. Gaza is the only territory in the world that has no access to its sea. Every other territory that borders water or an ocean has the right to its territory except for Gaza. We were trying to say to the world: a million and half people who live in Gaza are in outdoor prison and Israel has no right to do it.

RFE/RL: What kind of supplies do you carry on the ships and what goods were onboard the last flotilla sent to Gaza?

Berlin: That’s another reason Israel is terrified. Because the small amount of supplies we brought in on the yard was very small, they were just tokens. We’re coming in with 10,000 tons of supplies Israel refuses to allow into Gaza. Israel only allows 81 items into Gaza. They won’t allow any rebuilding supplies, they don’t allow paper, they don’t allow crayons for the children, they don’t allow jam, they don’t allow chocolate.

We didn’t bring anything in on those ships except items that were already forbidden by Israel and were forbidden for the people of Gaza could not rebuild their infrastructure. We had cement, water-purification systems, prefab homes, 20 tons of paper — Israel doesn’t allow the people of Gaza to print their own books.

So there wasn’t any way that Israel was going to take this easily because we have said to the world that Israel occupied Gaza and they are treating people as so they have the right to commit a slow-motion genocide on them and it hasn’t gotten in and we will still continue to try to do that, then we will be successful opening a sea lane from Gaza to the rest of the world.

RFE/RL: When it comes to people on board the ships, do you have full control over who enters them? There were six ships in the flotilla; Israeli media claim that people related to terrorism were on board one of the ships. What’s your response to that?

Berlin: I can only speak for the Free Gaza Movement, we are one of five partners. Every single one of our passengers has been vetted. They had to have two recommendations before they get on board and we know exactly who was on board. But frankly, as far as I’m concerned, the only terrorist we saw this morning was Israel.

RFE/RL: So can you acknowledge from your side, that there were no people on board you would know of who had any links to terrorism?

Berlin: I’m the wrong person to ask, you need to ask the Turks. Because the people Israel is accusing of being terrorists, were on the Turkish ship. We are responsible only for our own passengers.

No, I don’t acknowledge any of that. The terrorists that came on board that boat last night were Israelis. They came armed to the teeth, they killed at least 10 of us, none of them were killed.

For all I know, there was one wounded in some kind of a scuffle. But they do this all the time, they kill a hundred Palestinians to every one Israeli.

Now they’re killing 10 peaceful activists who were showing up in blue jeans. That is no excuse. If they thought there were any terrorists on board, they could have boarded the boat the way they did last summer, arrested the passengers, taken them off to jails. They did not need to have this kind of force.

RFE/RL: What kind of consequences will this morning’s event have?

Berlin: I do think that Israel is becoming ostracized among the world community the way South Africa was. Between the Lebanon war, Operation Cast Lead last year, and now attacking civilians on board what I call "ships of mercy," I think it’s probably high time for the governments of the world to tell Israel, "You can’t do this anymore."

We’re doing this because the governments have refused to hold Israel accountable for its war crimes. So when governments don’t do that, then civil society has an obligation do that.

This is why the Free Gaza Movement has been, in fact for the last two years to begin with, is to tell the world that Israel has no right to practice collective punishment on a people that are occupied. And Israel in fact is occupying them because they don’t get anything that doesn’t go through Israel first.

So this is a real challenge for Israel, because we are challenging their status quo of being able to hold 1.5 million people in prison. http://www.rferl.org/content/Interview_We_Are_Not_Terrorists_Gaza_Activist_Says/2058141.html

 Assault On Aid Ship Sounds Death Knell For Israeli-Turkish Strategic Ties

May 31, 2010

By Robert Tait

Strategic relationship? What strategic relationship? "I don’t think we can use that word anymore," one Turkish official grimly opined, describing the diplomatic aftermath of Israel’s deadly commando raid on an aid flotilla bound for the Gaza Strip with Ankara’s blessing.

With that terse assessment, an intimate bilateral partnership that spawned not only burgeoning trade and arms ties, but a mutual trust prompting intensive diplomatic efforts by Turkey to mediate between Israel and its Arab adversaries, finally bit the dust. Relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv have been on a downward spiral for 18 months — ever since a prolonged Israeli military assault on Gaza that left around 1,300 Palestinians dead triggered a furious backlash in Turkey. That culminated in Turkey’s tempestuous prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, storming out of a debate at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January last year after clashing with the Israeli president, Shimon Peres.

Things were subsequently patched up — at least publicly — despite the persistence of underlying tensions. The pattern repeated itself when Turkey blackballed Israel from taking part in NATO military maneuvers last October, and then again in January, when Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon deliberately humiliated Turkey’s ambassador to Tel Aviv, Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, by upbraiding him before television cameras over a Turkish TV series that depicted Israeli intelligence agents as baby snatchers.

’Serious Ramifications’

The chances of a similar kiss-and-make-up this time are much slimmer. Despite talk among officials of using "silent diplomacy" to "salvage as much as we can," the outlook for a relationship once described as "perfect" by the Israeli Foreign Ministry appears bleak. That description may have been part self-delusion; in truth, things have been on the slide since Turkey hosted the exiled Hamas leader, Khalid Mishaal, in 2006, much to Israeli dismay. "Relations were not very rosy anyway. This will make things go further back," said the Turkish official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity. "I don’t know how we are going to get past this.... It’s looking very bad."

His comments came before the Turkish cabinet announced it was requesting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council — of which Turkey is currently a member — and withdrawing Celikkol from his ambassador’s post in Israel. A decision by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to cancel a scheduled meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and fly instead to New York, where he was expected to confer with officials at the UN, suggests tensions had assumed international crisis proportions.

Mensur Akgun, foreign-policy program director at the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, an Istanbul-based think tank, says the latest incident dwarfs previous disagreements and could have long-term effects on Turkish foreign policy.

"It’s much more significant," Akgun says. "It will have long-lasting ramifications for the bilateral relations and, depending on the reactions of the EU and also the U.S. and probably within the Security Council framework, Turkey’s near foreign policy will be reshaped."

’Worst Kind Of Prevention’

That the May 31 storming of the Turkish vessel, the "Mavi Marmara" — with the death of at least 10 activists, including Turks — happened at all is a graphic demonstration of the extent to which Turkish-Israeli relations had already become a dialogue of the deaf.

Officials in Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government had been expressing concerns for months about a worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza and had accused the world of turning a blind eye. One of the most striking disclosures to emerge after the incident was that Davutoglu had held talks about the aid convoy with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak as it sailed toward Gaza. Davutoglu, who has publicly pursued a policy of "zero problems" with Turkey’s neighbors, is said to have stressed that its purpose was humanitarian and that Turkey did not want any "incidents."

Selim Yenel, deputy undersecretary at the Turkish Foreign Ministry, acknowledges that Israel had expressed its determination to prevent the ship reaching Gaza, but says Turkey’s anger is directed at the lethal use of force, which he describes as "the worst kind of prevention."

"The Israelis had told us that they didn’t want this, that they would take necessary measures," he says, "but, look, this is a ship of peaceful intent carrying only humanitarian aid and of course the Israelis may not want it to come through to one of the ports. But the way to prevent this, there are many ways to do it and many them, actually, do not entail force."

End Of The Affair

In their depiction of the raid as a breach of international law, Turkish diplomats are also stressing that the incident happened 70 nautical miles off Gaza’s coast, well outside the 20-mile exclusion zone Israel has imposed around the territory.

They are pinning the blame for the decline in relations on the uncompromising approach of the current Israeli coalition government, led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and especially on its hard-line foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who has dismissed reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which Israel regards as the incorrigible heartland of its bete noir, Hamas. Akgun says the deaths of Turkish nationals ensures that public opinion — a factor the Erdogan government has already stressed as its attitude to Israel has grown more critical — will play a key role in how the crisis unfolds. "On such an issue, they cannot neglect public opinion," he says. "It’s hardly possible that Turks will forget what has happened to this ’Mavi Marmara ship.’"

The strength of public sentiment was clear in the angry crowds that gathered outside the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul this morning, in scenes that reprised the anti-Israel feeling that was widespread in Turkey during last year’s bombardment of Gaza.

Erdogan played to those emotions with his histrionic walkout at Davos, which led to him being given a hero’s welcome by cheering crowds when he arrived back at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport.

With a general election due in Turkey within the next year, the temptation to use hostility toward Israel as a potential vote winner will loom large.

Meanwhile, a once-harmonious relationship that saw Peres address the Turkish parliament and frequent mutual exchanges of senior ministers appears doomed to wither on the vine. Turkey may be seeing more of Mishaal and his allies in future.

http://www.rferl.org/content/Assault_On_Aid_Ship_Sounds_Death_Knell_For_IsraeliTurkish_Strategic_Ties/2058077.html

 Deadly Israeli Raid Draws Condemnation

By ISABEL KERSHNER

Published: May 31, 2010

Turkey, Israel’s most important friend in the Muslim world, recalled its ambassador and canceled planned military exercises with Israel as the countries’ already tense relations soured even further. The United Nations Security Council met in emergency session over the attack, which occurred in international waters north of Gaza, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was flying home after canceling a Tuesday meeting with President Obama.

With street protests erupting around the world, Mr. Netanyahu defended the Israeli military’s actions, saying the commandos, enforcing what Israel says is a legal blockade, were set upon by passengers on the Turkish ship they boarded and fired only in self-defense. The military released a video of the early moments of the raid to support that claim. Israel said the violence was instigated by pro-Palestinian activists who presented themselves as humanitarians but had come ready for a fight. Organizers of the flotilla accused the Israeli forces of opening fire as soon as they landed on the deck, and released videos to support their case. Israel released video taken from one of its vessels to supports its own account of events.

The Israeli public seemed largely to support the navy, but policy experts questioned preparations for the military operation, whether there had been an intelligence failure and whether the Israeli insistence on stopping the flotilla had been counterproductive. Some commentators were calling for the resignation of Ehud Barak, the defense minister. “The government failed the test of results; blaming the organizers of the flotilla for causing the deaths by ignoring Israel’s orders to turn back is inadequate,” wrote Aluf Benn, a columnist for Haaretz, on the newspaper’s Web site on Monday, calling for a national committee of inquiry. “Decisions taken by the responsible authorities must be probed.”

The flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats was carrying 10,000 tons of aid for Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway, in an attempt to challenge Israel’s military blockade of Gaza. The raid and its deadly consequences have thrown Israel’s policy of blockading Gaza into the international limelight; at the Security Council on Monday voices were raised against the blockade, and the pressure to abandon it is bound to intensify.

Israel had vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, which Hamas, an organization sworn to Israel’s destruction, took over in 2007.

Named the Freedom Flotilla, and led by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi, the convoy had converged at sea near Cyprus and set out on the final leg of its journey on Sunday afternoon. Israel warned the vessels to abort their mission, describing it as a provocation.

The confrontation began shortly before midnight on Sunday when Israeli warships intercepted the aid flotilla, according to a person on one boat. The Israeli military warned the vessels that they were entering a hostile area and that the Gaza shore was under blockade. The vessels refused the military’s request to dock at the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, and continued toward their destination. Around 4 a.m. on Monday, naval commandos came aboard the Turkish ship, the Mavi Marmara, having been lowered by ropes from helicopters onto the decks.

At that point, the operation seems to have gone badly wrong. Israeli officials say that the soldiers were dropped into an ambush and were attacked with clubs, metal rods and knives.

An Israeli official said that the navy was planning to stop five of the six vessels of the flotilla with large nets that interfere with propellers, but that the sixth was too large for that. The official said there was clearly an intelligence failure in that the commandos were expecting to face passive resistance, and not an angry, violent reaction.

The Israelis had planned to commandeer the vessels and steer them to Ashdod, where their cargo would be unloaded and, the authorities said, transferred overland to Gaza after proper inspection.

The military said in a statement that two activists were later found with pistols taken from Israeli commandos. It accused the activists of opening fire, “as evident by the empty pistol magazines.”

Another soldier said the orders were to neutralize the passengers, not to kill them.

But the forces “had to open fire in order to defend themselves,” the navy commander, Vice Adm. Eliezer Marom, said at a news conference in Tel Aviv, adding, “Their lives were at risk.”

At least seven soldiers were wounded, one of them seriously. The military said that some suffered gunshot wounds; at least one had been stabbed.

Some Israeli officials said they had worried about a debacle from the start, and questioned Israel’s broader security policies.

Einat Wilf, a Labor Party member of Parliament who sits on the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that she had warned Mr. Barak and others well in advance that the flotilla was a public relations issue and should not be dealt with by military means. “This had nothing to do with security,” she said in an interview. “The armaments for Hamas were not coming from this flotilla.”

The fatalities all occurred aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish passenger vessel that was carrying about 600 activists under the auspices of Insani Yardim Vakfi, an organization also known as I.H.H. Israeli officials have characterized it as a dangerous Islamic organization with terrorist links.

Yet the organization, founded in 1992 to collect aid for the Bosnians, is now active in 120 countries and has been present at recent disaster areas like Haiti and New Orleans.

“Our volunteers were not trained military personnel,” said Yavuz Dede, deputy director of the organization. “They were civilians trying to get aid to Gaza. There were artists, intellectuals and journalists among them. Such an offensive cannot be explained by any terms.”

There were no immediate accounts available from the passengers of the Turkish ship, which arrived at the naval base in Ashdod on Monday evening, where nearly three dozen were arrested, many for not giving their names. The base was off limits to the news media and declared a closed military zone.

The injured had been flown by helicopter to Israeli hospitals. At the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv, relatives of injured soldiers were gathered outside an intensive care unit when a man with a long beard, one of the wounded passengers, was wheeled by, escorted by military police.

Organizers of the flotilla, relying mainly on footage filmed by activists on board the Turkish passenger ship, because all other communications were down, blamed Israeli aggression for the deadly results. The Israeli soldiers dropped onto the deck and “opened fire on sleeping civilians at four in the morning,” said Greta Berlin, a leader of the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement, speaking by phone from Cyprus on Monday.

Israeli officials said that international law allowed for the capture of naval vessels in international waters if they were about to violate a blockade. The blockade was imposed by Israel and Egypt after the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007. Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, said Monday that the blockade was “aimed at preventing the infiltration of terror and terrorists into Gaza.”

Despite sporadic rocket fire from the Palestinian territory against southern Israel, Israel says it allows enough basic supplies through border crossings to avoid any acute humanitarian crisis. But it insists that there will be no significant change so long as Hamas continues to hold Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured in a cross-border raid in 2006.

The Free Gaza Movement has organized several aid voyages since the summer of 2008, usually consisting of one or two vessels. The earliest ones were allowed to reach Gaza. Others have been intercepted and forced back, and one, last June, was commandeered by the Israeli Navy and towed to Ashdod. This six-boat fleet was the most ambitious attempt yet to break the blockade.

Reporting was contributed by Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul, Dina Kraft from Tel Aviv, Rina Castelnuovo from Ashdod, Fares Akram from Gaza and Neil MacFarquhar from the United Nations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/middleeast/01flotilla.html?scp=1&sq=gaza%20aid%20ship&st=cse

 Russia slams Israel over deadly raid on aid ships

17:33 31/05/2010

Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticized on Monday an Israeli raid on ships taking aid to the Gaza Strip in which at least 10 people were killed. A statement on the ministry website said Russia expressed "condemnation and deep concern" over the incident and called for a full investigation.

The ministry also called the use of "weapons against citizens and the seizing of ships in open waters with no legal grounds" a "gross violation of commonly-accepted international legal norms."

It also said the events proved the "necessity of a halt to the Gaza blockade."

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159232761.html

 Israeli military confesses to interception of aid ship in neutral waters

18:45 31/05/2010

The Israeli military has admitted that it intercepted an international aid ship en route to the Gaza Strip in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-flagged vessel with hundreds of human rights activists on Monday, killing at least 10.

"It happened in international waters, we confirm this," an Israeli Army spokesman told RIA Novosti, adding: "We did it there because we did not know what was happening on the ships and suspected there were explosives and other weapons on board."

In all, there were six vessels in the flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.

Israel has confiscated the vessel and is escorting it to the port of Ashdod, and will deport the activists on board, and send the humanitarian aid by land once it has been inspected.

TEL AVIV, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159234790.html

 Turkish premier accuses Israel of state terrorism, demands ship’s release

19:29 31/05/2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of state terrorism following an attack in neutral waters on an international aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.

"No matter what Israel says its motives were, what they did was [an act of] state terrorism," he said in a national address on Turkish television.

Arab media said 16 people had been killed and more than 30 injured when the Israeli military stormed the six-ship Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza and 600 human rights activists earlier on Monday. The Israeli army’s press service confirmed the deaths of more than 10 people.

"A Turkish vessel was taken hostage, and we demand its immediate release," Erdogan said.

ANKARA, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159236016.html

 Turkish premier accuses Israel of state terrorism, demands ship’s release (Update 3)

20:15 31/05/2010

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of state terrorism following an attack in neutral waters on an international aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.

"No matter what Israel says its motives were, what they did was [an act of] state terrorism," he said in a national address on Turkish television.

Arab media said 16 people had been killed and more than 30 injured when the Israeli military stormed the six-ship Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza and 600 human rights activists earlier on Monday. The Israeli army’s press service confirmed the deaths of more than 10 people.

"A Turkish vessel was taken hostage, and we demand its immediate release," Erdogan said.

The Turkish premier cut his official visit to Latin America short and decided to return to Turkey, as did the Turkish defense minister who was on an official trip to Egypt.

"By its actions Israel clearly demonstrated that it does not want peace in the region," Erdogan said. "We can not remain silent in circumstances where state terrorism is committed against humanity," the Turkish government head said.

The Israeli military has admitted that it intercepted an international aid ship en route to the Gaza Strip in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-flagged vessel with hundreds of human rights activists.

The international community, presidential administrations and other leaders also strongly condemned the attack calling for an end to the Gaza blockade.

Media said that Turkish, U.S., British, Australian, Greek, Canadian, Malaysian, Algerian, Serbian, Belgian, Irish, Norwegian, Swedish and German citizens were on board of the vessels.

Israel, which has enforced an almost constant blockade against Gaza since the radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the enclave in summer 2007, earlier called the mission a "provocation" and threatened to intercept the ships and deport those onboard.

ANKARA, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159236759.html

 World condemns Israel over Gaza flotilla attack (WRAPUP 1)

20:52 31/05/2010

The international community, presidential administrations and world leaders have strongly criticized the Israeli raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in which at least 10 people were killed.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday accused Israel of state terrorism following the attack in neutral waters on the international aid convoy.

"No matter what Israel says its motives were, what they did was [an act of] state terrorism," he said in a national address on Turkish television adding that Turkey demands immediate release of its vessel which was taken hostage.

The Turkish premier cut his official visit to Latin America short and decided to return to Turkey, as did the Turkish defense minister who was on an official trip to Egypt.

In a statement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry published on its official website on Monday, Russia expressed "condemnation and deep concern" over the incident and called for a full investigation.

The ministry also called the use of "weapons against citizens and the seizing of ships in open waters with no legal grounds a gross violation of commonly accepted international legal norms."

It also said the events proved the "necessity of a halt to the Gaza blockade."

World media said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also condemned the Israeli attack and called for a full investigation.

"I condemn this violence. It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place," he said at a press briefing after the opening ceremony of the first review conference of International Criminal Court adding that he was shocked by the incident. "I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," he continued. Ban said he instructed a special coordinator to actively engage on the ground in urging restraint in ensuring that no further harm is done and coordinate with all the relevant parties.

The UN Security Council is expected to hold on Monday an emergency session over the incident.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek also slammed Israel over the raid and called for the EU to force Israel via the Middle East settlement international mediators Quartet to lift "the siege on the people of Gaza [...] immediately and unconditionally."

Russia, along with the UN, the United States and European Union, comprises part of the Middle East Quartet of intermediaries for peace efforts.

On Monday, the international community strongly criticized Israeli aggression. EU Foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton demanded a "full inquiry" into the attack and called for "an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that an immediate investigation is needed and supported the participation of international observers in the investigation of the attack.

The Vatican has expressed "deep concern" over the Israeli military operation saying that the Vatican is following the situation with great interest and concern.

Poland has called for Israel to open an independent investigation adding that the country is also strongly concerned over the events. Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel when several European countries including Belgium, France, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden, Bulgaria and others summoned Israeli ambassadors for explanations over the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla.

The Arab League said it might recommend Palestinians to halt indirect talks with Israel. It also earlier announced that the organization would hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss Israel’s "terrorist attack" on the international ships.

German news agency DPA said citing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri as saying that the Israeli attack on the flotilla threatens to spark a war in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is currently in Canada, has cancelled a planned meeting with the U.S. President Obama over a growing international crisis sparked by the attack.

The Israeli military admitted that it intercepted the international aid ship en route to the Gaza Strip in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea. Israeli commandos stormed the Turkish-flagged vessel with hundreds of human rights activists by storm on Monday, killing at least 10.

"It happened in international waters, we confirm this," an Israeli Army spokesman told RIA Novosti, adding: "We did it there because we did not know what was happening on the ships and suspected there were explosives and other weapons on board."

In all, there were six vessels in the flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.

Israel has confiscated the vessel and is escorting it to the port of Ashdod, and will deport the activists on board, and send the humanitarian aid by land once it has been inspected.

Arab media said 16 people were killed and more than 30 injured when the Israeli military stormed the six-ship Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza and 600 human rights activists earlier on Monday.

The Israeli Army’s press service confirmed the deaths of more than 10 people, adding that four Israeli commandos had been injured in the attack.

Media said that Turkish, U.S., British, Australian, Greek, Canadian, Malaysian, Algerian, Serbian, Belgian, Irish, Norwegian, Swedish and German citizens were on board of the vessels.

Israel, which has enforced an almost constant blockade against Gaza since the radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the enclave in summer 2007, earlier called the mission a "provocation" and threatened to intercept the ships and deport those onboard.

MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159237307.html

 U.S. president urges probe into Israeli attack on Gaza-bound aid ship (Update 4)

21:56 31/05/2010

U.S. President Barack Obama called on Israel to carry out a careful investigation into Monday’s attack on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy in neutral waters, which left at least 10 people dead.

"The President expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today’s incident, and concern for the wounded, many of whom are being treated in Israeli hospitals. The President also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning’s tragic events as soon as possible," the White House said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret over the loss of life, but said he fully supported the Israeli military, who stormed a ship in neutral waters and shot to kill.

"The [Israeli] soldiers were stabbed and hit and even shot at. We regret every death but our soldiers were forced to defend themselves," he said.

Obama was to meet with Netanyahu on Tuesday, but the Israeli official left Canada shortly after news of the incident became known. The two leaders rescheduled their meeting and agreed to meet at "at the first opportunity."

Arab media said 16 people were killed and more than 30 injured when the Israeli military stormed the six-ship Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid to Gaza and 600 human rights activists earlier on Monday. The Israeli Army’s press service confirmed the deaths of more than 10 people.

WASHINGTON, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159238064.html

 Israel must be prepared to face consequences - Turkish Foreign Minister

22:56 31/05/2010

The UN Security Council must take measures to punish those guilty for the deaths of people when Israel raided a number of ships in neutral waters that were bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

Davutoglu, who is at the United Nations, said Israel must also apologize to the world community and the families for those who were killed on board the ship, and that Israel must immediately lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

"Israel must be prepared to face consequences of its illegal actions. Turkey calls on the people and government of Israel to refrain from repeating such unacceptable steps in the future," the foreign minister said during an extraordinary session at the UN.

UN, May 31 (RIA Novosti)

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100531/159238550.html