Weapons cache: The Israeli military released video of weapons they claim were found on board the Mavi Marmara
Ammunition: The footage also shows bottles full of stones alongside a catapult (left) and a pile of metal bars
This shot shows an improvised explosive, also allegedly found on the flotilla
# United Nations condemns attack which left up to 19 dead
# One Briton injured with 40 believed to be on Gaza flotilla
# Eye witness accounts of raid on six activist ships emerges
# Four Turkish nationals confirmed among dead
# More protest ships on way to Gaza as tensions rise
# Israel: This was not a successful operation
The Israeli military today released footage of weapons it says were found during deadly commando raids on a flotilla of ships bound for Gaza.
Improvised explosives, knives, machetes, catapults and gas masks were among the cache allegedly retrieved from the six-strong fleet which was stormed on Monday.
The images were released by the Israel Defence Forces, who claim the weapons were used against navy personnel when they boarded the ship.
British families today faced an agonising wait for news after it emerged 40 UK activists had been detained during Israel's bloody commando raid.
Emergency session: The United Nations Security condemned the raids after a 12-hour meeting last night
Harrowing: Activits Nilufer Cetin holds his son Turker Kaan Cetin after they were both deported from Israel. They had been on the flotilla when it was raided
Protest: Riot police officers blockade the road leading to the Israeli embassy in London
Outcry: Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters gather outside Downing Street to protest against the the flotilla raid
Assault force: Israeli naval vessels approach the port of Ashdod after storming the Gaza flotilla
An Israeli soldier keeps watch aboard a naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea: The country claims it is simply defending itself
Israeli patrol boats are silhouetted against the backdrop of a large civilian vessel before the pre-dawn assault in which up to 19 people died
This video image released by the Turkish Aid group IHH purports to show Israeli soldiers aboard a military vessel in international waters off the Gaza coast
As the UN Security Council condemned the attack and called for an 'impartial' investigation, the Foreign Office confirmed that at least one Brit had been injured during the assault.
Consulate officials are 'urgently' trying to establish the exact number of Britons being held and are seeking immediate access to them.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: 'We believe there are roughly 40 British nationals involved in the flotilla though, given the confusing situation, we are urgently trying to establish the actual figure as well as making sure we have consular access to them all.'
David Cameron described Israel's actions as 'unacceptable' adding he 'deplored the heavy loss of life' off the coast of Gaza.
Meanwhile, the prime minister of Turkey - which is where the fleet launched - called the raid a 'bloody massacre'
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Israel's actions were an attack on 'international law, the conscience of humanity and world peace.'
Israel was still in lockdown today with more than 400 activists still detained in an undisclosed location.
But a handful have been freed and they gave harrowing eye-witness accounts of the assault which took place in the early hours of Monday morning.
As many as 19 activists were killed during the raids with up to 40 injured. Four Turkish citizens were confimed to be among the dead.
Turkish activist Nilufer Cetin described how the Mavi Marmara ship, of of six boats stormed by commandos, had turned into a 'lake of blood'
She had been on board with her one-year-old son Turker and had agreed to be extradited by Israel after being warned jail conditions there would be 'too harsh' for the baby.
Cetin said she and her baby, the youngest passenger on board, had stayed in their cabin's bathroom during the raid.
Her husband, Ekrem, is the ship's engineer and is still being held by Israeli authorities.
She described how Israeli vessels 'harassed' the flotilla for two hours before eventually boarding it at around 4am on Monday.
'When the Mavi Marmara continued on its course the harassment turned into an attack.
'They used smoke bombs followed by gas canisters. They started to descend onto the ship with helicopters,' she said.
'The ship turned into a lake of blood. She described the clashes as 'extremely bad and brutal'
'We were aware of the possible danger,' she added, explaining why she had taken her child on the ship.
'But there are thousands of babies in Gaza. If we had reached Gaza we would have played with them and taken them food.'
Six Greeks also returned to Athens today after being expelled from Israel, while dozens of others remained in Israeli custody.
The returning six, one of whom had been a crew member, told reporters that Israeli commandos boarded the boats in international waters about 80-90 miles off the Israeli coast.
They told reporters the Israelis beat activists with clubs and used electric shocks, and they said they heard shooting aboard the Turkish boat ahead of theirs.
Some 400 Turkish activists were part of the flotilla, along with more than 30 Greeks and people of some 20 other nations including Germany, the U.S. and Russia.
There were also 28 Britons, whose whereabouts are unknown.
These include Peter Venner, 63, Denis Healey, 55, Theresa McDermott, 43, and Alex Harrison, 32.
Nobel peace prize winner Mairead Corrigan-Maguire was also on board.
Best-selling author Henning Mankell, 62, author of the Wallander books, was also on one of the ships which were carrying more than 700 passengers.
Egypt today said it was temporarily lifting its blockade of the Gaza Strip to allow aid into the area.
The governor of northern Sinai, Murad Muwafi, says President Hosni Mubarak ordered the opening of the border crossing to Gaza in the town of Rafah for several days.
Muwafi says the opening of the crossing - which Egypt sealed after Gaza was taken over by Hamas militants in 2007 - is an effort to ;alleviate the suffering of our Palestinian brothers after the Israeli attack' on the flotilla.
The United Nations Security Council condemned the raid after a marathon 12-hour session. In a statement, the body attacked 'those acts' which resulted in the loss of life.
But it stopped short of naming Israel outright, a move designed to placate the country's closest ally the United States.
The statement, which called for 'a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation, is unlikely to assuage Turkey.
Israel said ten of its marines were hurt during the attack, one seriously, and insisted its forces had come under attack first - a claim denied by the activists.
Ron Prosor, Israel's Ambassador to Britain, admitted today the storming of the aid flotilla had not been a success: 'It's obvious - and I won't beat around the bush on this - that this wasn't successful and I think it clearly took up an issue that should have been solved differently.
'But they were also, on the other side, really trying to do everything in order to provoke and confront and those militant elements rendered something which was supposed to be a humanitarian issue way out of proportion.
'So I think, yes, we take a lot of things back with us and we check that as we do. As you know, Israel is a vibrant democracy and the discussions are already beginning in Jerusalem'.
The incident happened in international waters and worldwide condemnation of Israel was swift.
Former British ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock said there had been 'immediate international rage' following the 'unnecessary loss of life'.
He said that Israel had to make sure weapons were not getting into Gaza 'so some kind of defence is necessary but this was clearly not very well handled'.
Sir Jeremy added: 'It's past time by some years for serious international action to end the blockade and the virtual starvation of Gaza.
'This is not going to work as a way of dealing with the Palestinian territories over the long term.
'It's not going to work, frankly, for a democratic and law-abiding nation such as Israel - it's changing the character of Israel to be responsible for this kind of occupation for so long.
'And to my mind, this situation is just not necessary as it stands at the moment.'
Turkey, from where most of the dead are said to come, accused Israel of 'state terrorism' and withdrew its ambassador to Tel Aviv.
Tens of thousands marched through Istanbul and attempted to storm the Israeli consulate, chanting: ' Murderous Israel, you will drown in the blood you shed.'
Deputy prime minister Bulent Arinc called Israel's actions 'piracy' and cancelled three planned joint military exercises.
The deadly clash sparked a wave of furious condemnation of Israel - with 2,000 demonstrators outside the gates of Downing Street and thousands more outside the Israeli Embassy in West London.
In Paris, hundreds clashed with police near the Israeli Embassy. Police responded by firing tear gas.
The White House, which has close ties with both Israel and Turkey, expressed 'deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded'.
Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu cancelled a trip to Washington planned for today to head home as the crisis erupted.
He expressed his 'full backing' for the military action.
The Jewish state argues that the blockade, which began in 2007, is necessary to prevent arms reaching the Hamas-controlled enclave.
The high-profile aid mission - unofficially supported by Turkey - set off from Cyprus on Sunday, led by the Turkish passenger ferry the Mavi Marmara, with 500 people aboard and 10,000 tons of food, medicines and building materials.
There were two other passenger ships - one Irish and one Swedish - and three cargo ships thought to be all Turkish. After warnings from Israel to turn back, they were intercepted before dawn yesterday by three warships about 40 miles from Gaza, still within international waters.
Commandos launched their raid on the Marmara by helicopter, slipping down a rope to the top deck. Greta Berlin, a founder of the Free Gaza Movement and one of the organisers of the flotilla, claimed the marines fired indiscriminately at unarmed civilians.
'We are all civilians,' she said. 'Every one of us is a civilian who is trying to break Israel's blockade of one and a half million Palestinians.'
0 comments:
Post a Comment