Israeli forces attack aid Gaza aid flotilla, kill activists

Israel attacks Gaza aid fleet

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 "**** 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.

Source

format_quote Originally Posted by M.A.S.H.

It did have sovereignty then. Arabs were the first to break a UN decision (the partition plan). And arabs didn't want an independent Palestine anway, they were defending their own claims to the land.

What Do YOU say about these attacks by Israel on civilians who were on that ship?

20 killed and over 60 wounded.



From Istanbul:

La hawla wala quwwata illa billah

may Allah have mercy on those people who have died. may Allah accept their righteous deed.

Allahumaa Aameen!

Pls everyone every one remember those suffering in your ad3iyah.

Most news agencies are confirming 2 casualties. Allah knows the best. Are the reports about 20 casualties authentic??

What a disaster, Israel had NO right to attack those ships.

Let's see what the world has to say about this.

May Allah help our brothers and sisters.

format_quote Originally Posted by sister harb

Report; “15 killed, 30 wounded, After Army Attacks Freedom Flotilla”
Monday May 31, 2010 07:46 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

In what activists have termed a 'massacre on the high seas', Israeli commandos dropped from a helicopter onto humanitarian aid ships bound for Gaza and began to open fire. Israeli media have reported that 15 have been killed and at least 30 wounded in the Israeli attack.

Senior Turkish officials held an urgent meeting to decide on the country’s stance on the Israeli attack -- initial reports have indicated that most of the killed and some of the wounded are Turkish.

Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, was also among the wounded.

Al Jazeera said that Salah suffered serious injuries.

Al Jazeera has reported that Israeli paratroopers and Navy personnel attacked the ships and opened fire in different directions at the passengers.

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera network managed to broadcast live images of the wounded activists after being attacked by the Israeli soldiers.

The Free Gaza Movement said on its twitter page that "At about 4:30 am, Israeli commandos dropped from helicopter onto deck of Turkish ship, immediately opened fire on unarmed civilians."

Israel is still threatening a larger offensive against the humanitarian ships and the activists on board.

The Freedom Flotilla was supposed to reach Gaza Monday morning, with thousands of tons of much-needed humanitarian aid, including medical supplies, school supplies and building materials.

The Israeli army had said that they would take the ships to the Ashdod Port to confiscate them and arrest the activists, but activists have reported that they believe they are being hauled to Haifa port.

Israeli blamed Turkey for the attack and claimed that the Turkish humanitarian-aid foundation (IHH) is connected to “terrorist” groups.

The army dropped paratroopers onto the ships and opened live fire at the peace activists, while the humanitarian aid ships were still in international waters.

The Israeli army reported that one soldier was wounded during the attack against the ships, although it is unclear whether the soldier was wounded by 'friendly fire'.

http://www.imemc.org/article/58811

Ladies and gentelmen, that's Israel !
May Allah destroy it and all its allies !

May they rot in hell

format_quote Originally Posted by aadil77

I knew those *******s would attack them, fkin cowards

Akhee, I love you for sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Swearing is not going to help. Be patient and make dua for them. Fa sabrun Jameel.

I read one comment on a youtube video regarding this incident. It said "Israel just signed its Death warrant"

Shocking news!
I am still trying to get the full picture ...

Israel is trying to make a media blackout about these events so they can publish their lies and their pre-fabricated story. But I think this time no one will believe them.


They're trying to hide information as possible as they can, but unfortunately for them the news are already "leaked".

format_quote Originally Posted by czgibson

Greetings,

I just heard the BBC news on the radio; they're now saying the number of deaths is at least ten and possibly as many as nineteen.

Echoing glo's post above, we don't really know if we have the full picture yet, but it certainly doesn't look good for Israel at this point.

Peace

do you agree this was an act of terrorism? or are you going to wait until israel claims it was attacked first?