'16 Killed As Israel Storms Aid Convoy'

[4me2]

'16 Killed As Israel Storms Aid Convoy'


Up to 16 people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed an aid convoy sailing to the Gaza Strip, say reports.



An Israeli warship embarks on its trip to stop the Gaza aid convoy


Witnesses said the violence happened when Israeli soldiers boarded a Turkish ship that was leading the six-ship flotilla.
They opened fire after passengers attacked them with axes and knives, said Israeli private channel 10 television.
The Israeli army said at least 10 activists were among the dead.
There were unconfirmed reports that senior Arab Israeli Islamist leader Raed Salah had been severely injured in the clashes.

We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri

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 expressed regret for the deaths.



Flag-waving Palestinians await the flotilla in Gaza port before the ship raid


"The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities," Trade and Industry Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Israel's Army Radio.
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, using the Arabic word 'intifada'.
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."


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor..._To_Gaza_Strip

[Robbo]

Israel doing what they want again and ignoring the world

[4me2]

IDF: Soldiers were met by well-planned lynch in Gaza waters

By YAAKOV KATZ
05/31/2010 09:18

Army says at least 10 activists killed, dozens injured, six Navy commandos wounded as protesters open fire in violent Israeli takeover of Gaza flotilla.

International activists aboard the flotilla of ships on their way to the Gaza Strip opened fire on IDF soldiers who boarded the ships to prevent them from breaking the Israeli-imposed sea blockade, the IDF said Monday.

According to the IDF, the international activists “prepared a lynch” for the soldiers who boarded the ships at about 2 a.m. Monday morning after calling on them to stop, or follow them to the Ashdod Port several hours earlier.

According to IDF reports, at least 10 acitivists were killed during the ensuing clashes as well as six Navy commandos, some of them from gunfire and at least one in serious condition with a head wound. Foreign reports claimed that the number of dead was close to 15. Some of the wounded were evacuated to Israeli hospital by Air Force helicopters.

Upon boarding the ships, the soldiers encountered fierce resistance from the passangers who were armed with knives, bats and metal pipes. The soldiers used non-lethal measures to disperse the crowd. The activists succeeded in stealing the weapon from one of the IDF’s soldiers and reportedly opened fire, leading to an escalation in violence.

“It was like a well-planned lynch,” one IDF officer said. “These people were anything but peace activists.”

The IDF said that the ships would be taken to the Ashdod Port where, despite the violence, the cargo that are carrying will be inspected and then transferred to the Gaza Strip via land crossings. Israeli Navy commander Vice-Admiral Eliezer Marom was commanding over the operation from sea.

The Navy made initial contact with the flotilla at 11 p.m. on Sunday ordering the ships to follow them to Ashdod Port or otherwise be boarded.

The actual boarding of the ships took place at 2 a.m. Monday and was yet to be completed by 8 a.m.

Activists aboard the ships repeatedly said they would not respond with violence to the navy's interception of their flotilla prior to the boarding.

Al-Jazeera reported Turkish leaders called an emergency meeting to discuss responses to the attack at sea. The Israeli ambassador in Turkey was called in to offer explanations, according to a report.

Hamas Prime Minister Haniyeh came on Al-Jazeera to condemn the “brutal attack” and called on the UN to intervene on the activists' behalf.

The ministry condemned Monday's raid on the ship carrying pro-Palestinian activists, called it unacceptable and demanded an "urgent explanation" from Israel. It says Israel violated international laws and will suffer consequences.

AP contributed to the report.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=176970

[4me2]

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

Al Jazeera's report on board the Mavi Marmara before communications were cut
Israeli forces have attacked a flotilla of aid-carrying ships aiming to break the country's siege on Gaza.
More than 10 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli Army Radio had earlier said that up to 16 people had been killed.
The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast.
Footage from the flotilla's lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.
Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.
The Israeli military said four soldiers had been wounded, two of them moderately, and claimed troops opened fire after "demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs".
Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the ships.

Israeli intervention

Earlier, the Israeli navy had contacted the captain of the Mavi Marmara, asking him to identify himself and say where the ship was headed.

Shortly after, two Israeli naval vessels had flanked the flotilla on either side, but at a distance.
Organisers of the flotilla carrying 10,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid then diverted their ships and slowed down to avoid a confrontation during the night.
They also issued all passengers life jackets and asked them to remain below deck.
Al Jazeera’s Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Jerusalem, said the Israeli action was surprising.
"All the images being shown from the activists on board those ships show clearly that they were civilians and peaceful in nature, with medical supplies on board. So it will surprise many in the international community to learn what could have possibly led to this type of confrontation," he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli police have been put on a heightened state of alert across the country to prevent any civil disturbances.

Protests

Condemnation has been quick to pour in after the Israeli action.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, officially declared a three-day state of mourning over Monday's deaths.

Thousands of Turkish protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul soon after the news of the operation broke. The protesters shouted "Damn Israel" as police blocked them.
Turkey is also reported to have summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a protest.
"(The interception on the convoy) is unacceptable ... Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour," the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader in Gaza, has also dubbed the Israeli action as "barbaric".
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists, including a Nobel laureate and several European legislators, were with the flotilla, aiming to reach Gaza in defiance of an Israeli embargo.
But Israel had said it would not allow the flotilla to reach the Gaza Strip and vowed to stop the six ships from reaching the coastal Palestinian territory.
The flotilla had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday and aimed to reach Gaza by Monday morning.
Israel said the boats were embarking on "an act of provocation" against the Israeli military, rather than providing aid, and that it had issued warrants to prohibit their entrance to Gaza.
It asserted that the flotilla would be breaking international law by landing in Gaza, a claim the organisers rejected.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/mi...047995359.html

[Undertaker]

Why are they not showing this on the UK news channels? It should be the main news.

The headline should be

"Israel murders peace activists"

attacked in international waters as well.

more coverage on presstv

[4me2]

Why are they not showing this on the UK news channels? It should be the main news.

The headline should be

"Israel murders peace activists"

attacked in international waters as well.

more coverage on presstv

They are and have been for hours.

Is your TV only stuck on Press TV ?

[Undertaker]

just got up, scanned all the channels and only found coverage on press tv and aljazeera, nothing on bbc or sky.

says alot

[4me2]

Gaza aid flotilla attacked, 10 killed
Mon, 31 May 2010 03:06:44 GMT

Israeli forces have attacked the international aid convoy Freedom Flotilla en route to the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and leaving more than 50 injured.

The attack came on Monday morning after one of the six ships in the convoy was hit by Israeli navy forces before being stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.

The interception reportedly took place in international waters, more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.

Israel had earlier deployed warships and threatened to stop the flotilla from reaching the Palestinian territory where the war-ravaged residents were impatiently eying the arrival of the aid convoy.

Israeli navy forces and helicopters have taken over the ships in the humanitarian aid convoy and are using force against those on board, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Israeli soldiers have also reportedly detained activists accompanying the convoy.

In Gaza, Palestine's democratically elected Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh strongly condemned the attack on the flotilla and called on the international community to protect the aid mission.

The convoy carries 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of politicians, activists and journalists.

The flotilla was seeking to break Israel's crippling blockade of Gaza and deliver basic necessities to the impoverished Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id...onid=351020202

[4me2]

just got up, scanned all the channels and only found coverage on press tv and aljazeera, nothing on bbc or sky.

says alot

You are talking absolute rubbish.

I've been scanning all the channels for the last 2 hours.

Press TV always has it's main focus on Anti Israel stories and broadcasts them practically 24/7.

[4me2]

Israeli Army: More Than 10 Activists Killed in Commando Operation Against Gaza Flotilla


The Israeli military says more than ten pro-Palestinian activists have been killed after attacking naval commandos who were halting an aid flotilla heading toward the blockaded Gaza Strip.


JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military says more than ten pro-Palestinian activists have been killed after attacking naval commandos who were halting an aid flotilla heading toward the blockaded Gaza Strip.
The army says the soldiers were attacked with knives and clubs as they boarded the six vessels Monday. It says soldiers opened fire after a protester grabbed a weapon from one of the commandos.
The army says dozens of people were wounded, both soldiers and activists, and it is evacuating the casualties from the Mediterranean by helicopter.

But Israeli security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under military guidelines, said activists attacked the Israeli forces with knives and iron rods as they boarded the boats.
"The people on the boats were very, very violent toward the soldiers," said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich.
A Turkish website showed video of pandemonium on board one of the ships, with activists in orange life jackets running around as some tried to help an activist apparently unconscious on the deck. The site also showed video of an Israeli helicopter flying overhead and Israeli warships nearby.

"These savages are killing people here, please help," a Turkish television reporter said.
The al-Jazeera broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"

There were no details on the identities of the casualties, or on the conditions of some of the more prominent people on board, including a Nobel peace laureate and an elderly Holocaust survivor.
Satellite phones on board the ships were turned off, and communication with a small group of reporters embedded with the Israeli military was blocked.
In Turkey, which had unofficially supported the aid mission, news of the attack sparked violent protests.

Police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. The CNN-Turk and NTV televisions showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police and shouting, "Damn Israel."
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli raid and said it was summoning the Israeli ambassador for an "urgent explanation." It says Israel violated international law and will suffer consequences.
The Israeli military denied its forces attacked the boats, saying soldiers were under orders only to use fire if their lives were in danger.

Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists were on the boats, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 85.
The flotilla, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger ships, is trying to draw attention to Israel's blockade of Gaza, home to 1.5 million Palestinians. The boats are carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials. The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers.
The head of the Gaza Hamas government, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the "brutal" Israeli attack.

"We call on the secretary-general of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, to shoulder his responsibilities to protect the safety of the solidarity groups who were on board these ships and to secure their way to Gaza," Haniyeh told The Associated Press.
The reports came just after daybreak, with the flotilla still well away from the Gaza shore. Israel had declared it would not allow the ships to reach Gaza.
The violent takeover threatened to deal yet another blow to Israel's international image, already tarnished by war crimes accusations in Gaza and its three-year-old blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory.

The flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus on Sunday afternoon after two days of delays.
After nightfall Sunday, three Israeli navy missile boats left their base in Haifa, steaming out to sea to confront the ships. Two hours later, Israel Radio broadcast a recording of one of the missile boats warning the flotilla not to approach Gaza.
"If you ignore this order and enter the blockaded area, the Israeli navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade," the radio message continued.
This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement, an international group of pro-Palestinian activists, has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.
Israel has let ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.
The latest flotilla was the largest to date.

Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade on Gaza after Hamas militants violently seized control of the seaside territory in June 2007.
Israel says the measures are needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israel, from building up its arsenal. But U.N. officials and international aid groups say the blockade has been counterproductive, failing to weaken the Islamic militant group while devastating the local economy.

Israel rejects claims of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying it allows more than enough food and medicine into the territory. The Israelis also point to the bustling smuggling industry along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, which has managed to bring consumer goods, gasoline and livestock into the seaside strip.


The Associated Press contributed to this report


http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/05...lla-dead/print

[Agent47]

Fucking hate Israel, those scum can do what they want. Sooner its nuked to fuck the better for the sake of the Middle East.

[4me2]

Fucking hate Israel, those scum can do what they want. Sooner its nuked to fuck the better for the sake of the Middle East.

Very objective of you, thanks for your constructive contribution to the debate.

[GTI]

When it comes to committing attrocities, Israel never fails to disappoint. In this case they acted more like Somali pirates, storming a ship and killing protesters in International Waters.

Israel's murderous logic is actually very simple: "Anything is acceptable as long as we are under threat.... and we are always under threat"

[rudey]

I cannnot believe the bullshit i just heard from their foreign ministry !!!!!!!!!!!!!
PURE LIES !!!!!!
they said on news they were going to ASHOD to proccess the activists but they are going to HAIFA port as there is NO journalists to report the truth !!!
i have a few friends that are on the boats and a camera man for press tv
they will be making 100% sure that no -of the pictures and footage gets out from the ships
these people had AID only !!!!!
the fact that israeli commandos have attcked them on INTERNATIONAL WATERS will cause outrage !!!
lets see how long the BBC and MURDOCH NEWS show this as their main news

[4me2]

I cannnot believe the bullshit i just heard from their foreign ministry !!!!!!!!!!!!!
PURE LIES !!!!!!
they said on news they were going to ASHOD to proccess the activists but they are going to HAIFA port as there is NO journalists to report the truth !!!
i have a few friends that are on the boats and a camera man for press tv
they will be making 100% sure that no -of the pictures and footage gets out from the ships
these people had AID only !!!!!
the fact that israeli commandos have attcked them on INTERNATIONAL WATERS will cause outrage !!!
lets see how long the BBC and MURDOCH NEWS show this as their main news

If we want to get objective about this then I think everyone must admit that both Murdoch's news and Press TV/ Al jazeera are not paricularly good when it comes to telling the truth.

The BBC however have never been proIsrael so any suggestion that they are is silly.

Granted they may not go to the extremes of Press TV or Al Jazeera.

But I mean Press TV broadcasts antiIsrael news 24/7 as is to be expected by an Iran English speaking TV channel with an agenda.

[4me2]

When it comes to committing attrocities, Israel never fails to disappoint. In this case they acted more like Somali pirates, storming a ship and killing protesters in International Waters.

Israel's murderous logic is actually very simple: "Anything is acceptable as long as we are under threat.... and we are always under threat"

The international waters part has yet to be established, as of this moment it's a claim being made by Press TV.

When it comes to acting like pirates in International waters the Iranian track record is not exactly clean either.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6503657.stm

[rudey]

they havent killed people when they have caught them ( Iranians )
the Mediterranean doesn't belong to Israel maybee im wrong as they own the whole world and control it !

[4me2]

they havent killed people when they have caught them ( Iranians )
the Mediterranean doesn't belong to Israel maybee im wrong as they own the whole world and control it !

You come out with random comments like a hate filled uncontrolled Cleric in front of a Finsbury Park mosque.

[4me2]

Israel boards Gaza-bound ships

Jeffrey Heller and Alastair Macdonald
JERUSALEM
Mon May 31, 2010 9:45am BST












1 / 6
















Palestinians ride aboard boats in a preparation for the arrival of a convoy of ships to Gaza's Seaport, May 30, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa




JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli commandos intercepted Gaza-bound aid ships on Monday and at least 10 pro-Palestinian activists on board were killed in bloodshed that plunged Israel into a diplomatic crisis.
World




Israel's military said its troops came under gunfire and knife attack during the takeover.


"Our initial findings show that at least 10 convoy participants were killed," an Israeli military spokesman said, adding that at least four soldiers were wounded.


The convoy of aid and foreign activists had set off in international waters off Cyprus on Sunday in defiance of the Israeli-led blockade of Gaza and warnings that it would be intercepted.


Israel had expected the operation to end without bloodshed and had prepared tents in an Israeli port for detainees.


The incident created a diplomatic storm with long-time Muslim ally Turkey, whose flag some of the six ships were flying.
The Turkish government said it "strongly protested" the military action, calling the interception unacceptable.


"Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour" a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said.


Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Israel had not wanted a violent confrontation.
"We made repeated offers that they should bring the boats to the port of Ashdod and from there we guaranteed that all humanitarian cargo would be transferred to the people of Gaza," he said.


"Unfortunately this group decided on confrontation. They decided on violence...And when our navy had to intercept, our young servicemen were attacked with live ammunition."
Israel has said it was determined to maintain its blockade of the Gaza Strip, a territory of 1.5 million people that is controlled by Hamas Islamists opposed to U.S.-mediated Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.


Israel's Western allies have been critical of the embargo on the impoverished enclave, which the Jewish state says is aimed at preventing arms supplies from reaching Hamas by sea.
It has previously halted such activist ships, although some others have reached the Gaza Strip before.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction lost control of the Gaza Strip in fighting with Hamas in 2007, declared three days of mourning in the Palestinian territories.
Captured ships were sailing towards Israel's southern Mediterranean port of Ashdod, Israeli media said.


"How could the Israeli military attack civilians like this?" asked Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement that organised the convoy. "Do they think that because they can attack Palestinians indiscriminately they can attack anyone?
TURKISH ROLE
The flotilla was organised, among others, by a Turkish human rights organisation. Turkey had urged Israel to allow it safe passage and said the 10,000 tonnes of aid the convoy was carrying was humanitarian.


Turkey, long Israel's best Muslim ally in a hostile Middle East, was highly critical of Israel's attack on Gaza 18 months ago, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed.
Relations between the two states are now distinctly chilly and bloodshed at sea will do nothing to improve them.


The European Union called for an enquiry into the deaths aboard the aid ships and demanded Israel allow the free flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
"On behalf of the European Union (High Representative Catherine Ashton) demands a full enquiry about the circumstances in which this happened...she calls for an immediate, sustained and unconditional opening of the crossing for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza," it said.


France24 television aired video of a woman in a Muslim headdress holding a stretcher with a large bloodstain on it. Below her lay a man, apparently injured, in a blanket.
CNN showed pictures of a commando apparently rappelling down a rope and clashing with a man wielding a stick. Other TV images showed what appeared to be rubber boarding launches.


The United Nations and Western powers have urged Israel to ease its restrictions on Gaza to prevent a humanitarian crisis. They have been urging Israel to let in concrete and steel to allow for post-war reconstruction.
Israel says food, medicine and medical equipment are allowed in regularly.


(Writing by Alastair Macdonald, Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Nicosia and Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara bureau; Editing by Angus MacSwan)


http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64T21120100531

[the.insane]

You come out with random comments like a hate filled uncontrolled Cleric in front of a Finsbury Park mosque.

so what is your opinion of this fiasco, it would appear from your comments that you are defending Israels actions. Your well within your rights to have an opinion about it, but ask yourself a few questions,

why is Israel allowed to get away with this kind of atrocities.

Why wont Israel submit their nuclear aresenal when the world demand every other nation to do so, israel wont.

Why you defend israels actions when the whole world knows israel is a terrorist state.

Can you imagine pakistani commandos attacking indian protesters,
Or china attacking japanese ships

the reaction would be quite different, wouldnt it?