“One of our Hebrew speakers had found Israel’s strategy and posted it to us. It stated: ‘You will be boarded by highly trained, very efficient and very SILENT commandos. They will use silent inflatable boats to get to our boats and both try to board our boats directly from the inflatables and by dropping divers into the water to climb onto the boats,’ so people were preparing for them to come up and over the sides of the ships.”
Israeli television showed video taken from one of the ships prior to being boarded and it showed a wooden baton that looked like an axe handle being handed to one of the party.
There were no details on the identities of the casualties, or on the conditions of some of the more prominent people on board, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 85.
A wounded pro-Palestinian activist is evacuated to hospital in Jerusalem after Israeli forces stormed a flotilla sailing for the Gaza Strip.
“Our initial findings show that at least 10 convoy participants were killed,” a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces said.
“During the intercept of the ships, the demonstrators on board attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose. “
“As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire,” the statement said.
Israeli Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said an unspecified number of troops were helicoptered to hospital suffering from gunshots, knife wounds and blows.
“To me it is clear without a doubt, judging by what I saw and what I heard in the first reports from the soldiers, that in light of the danger to human life this violence required the use of weapons, and in my opinion the soldiers acted as they should have in this situation,” Mr. Ashkenazi said.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak expressed regret for the loss of life, but called IHH, a Turkish group organizing the sea convoy, a violent organization “operating under cover of humanitarian activity.”
The ships were being towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and wounded were evacuated by helicopter to Israeli hospitals, officials said. Two ships had reached port by midday.
Israel was justified in enforcing the blockade of Gaza, that “unfortunately” ended in violence, said Danny Ayalon, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister.
He described the humanitarian convoy as working “in aid of the terrorist organization, Hamas.”
“According to maritime law we have the right to do this,” Mr. Ayalon said. If the corridor was allowed to be opened, it would lead to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and “the deaths of thousands of people.”
“No sovereign country would allow this to happen,” he told reporters in Jerusalem.
Speaking in Hebrew to Israeli reporters, Mr. Ayalon said: “We know that the organizers have strong long-standing connections with international terrorist elements, international Islam, Hamas, al-Qaeda and others; and we also know that their whole intention was to provoke…. We in Israel, naturally, regret all loss of life [but] the responsibility for the loss of life rests with those who simply ambushed the IDF soldiers and attacked them.”
With files from Associated Press and Reuters and The Canadian Press
