Forces board ship from helicopter, clash with activists
Israel's military says navy forces have intercepted an aid convoy carrying pro-Palestinian activists to the Gaza Strip, killing more than 10 of the activists.
Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla of six ships early Monday, opening fire on at least one of the vessels. Some reports put the death toll as high as 16. Activists say at least 30 people were wounded.
Turkey's NTV aired images of Israeli forces boarding a ship from helicopters and clashing with those on board. The Israeli military says activists attacked the Israeli commandos with knives, rocks and metal pipes. The military says the fighting escalated after protesters seized a weapon from one of the commandos. Several activists were shown bleeding after the confrontation, and the military says at least four soldiers were wounded.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry called the raid "unacceptable" and warned Israel it will face consequences. An Israeli Cabinet minister expressed regret concerning the deaths, the first official acknowledgment by Israel that the operation had turned fatal.
Israel has warned it will not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza, which has been under a blockade by Israel and Egypt since 2007 after the Palestinian militant group Hamas seized control of the territory.
The aid ships, carrying more than 600 pro-Palestinian activists and 10,000 tons of supplies, left for Gaza Sunday and defied a radio warning from the Israeli navy not to approach the region.
Three Israeli missile boats left their base in Haifa late Sunday to prevent the ships from entering the 32-kilometer exclusion zone Israel enforces along Gaza's Mediterranean Sea coast.
An Israeli official said the navy told the boats they were approaching a blockaded area and asked them to go to the Israeli port of Ashdod or turn back.
Organizers from the Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish human rights group say the convoy, which includes three cargo ships and three passenger boats, is carrying medical supplies as well as cement and other building materials, which Israel has banned from entering Gaza due to security concerns.
In Turkey, several dozen protesters crowded outside the Israeli consulate in Istanbul Monday to demonstrate against the Israeli operation against the flotilla.
Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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