Jerusalem, June 01: Israel has detained 480 pro-Palestinian activists captured in its deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and will expel 48 others, public radio reported on Tuesday.
Those detained were being held at the southern Israeli prison of Ashdod, while the other 48 were being taken to Ben Gurion international airport to be sent back to their home countries, said the report.
The raid aboard Turkish-backed aid ships bound for Gaza in a naval operation left nine people dead and sparked an international outcry.
The UN Security Council met in emergency session to discuss Israel’s storming of the flotilla, with most members of the 15-nation body calling for a thorough investigation.
“This is tantamount to banditry and piracy,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the council. “It is murder conducted by a state.” Most of those who died in the incident were Turks, according to one senior Israeli officer.
Big questions were unanswered: notably, how far Israel could continue to blockade 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after condemnation from allies; and how Israeli commanders miscalculated the situation and dropped marines onto a Turkish ship where they felt they had to open fire to save their lives.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, flying home from Canada after cancelling a White House meeting on Tuesday with President Barack Obama, planned to convene his cabinet on his return to Jerusalem, officials travelling with him said.
UN meeting
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Monday on Israel’s deadly commando raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip, with the Palestinians and Arab nations demanding condemnation and an independent investigation.
The Palestinians and Arabs, backed by a number of council members including Turkey, also called for Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, immediately release the ships and humanitarian activists, and allow them to deliver their goods.
Assistant Secretary-General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco said in his briefing to the UN’s most powerful body that the early morning bloodshed on Monday would have been avoided “if repeated calls on Israel to end the counterproductive and unacceptable blockade of Gaza had been heeded.”
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, whose country had been a longtime Muslim ally of Israel, called the raid “banditry and piracy” on the high seas and “murder conducted by a state”. He urged the council to adopt a presidential statement circulated by Turkey. Many of the activists aboard the ships were apparently Turks.
The original draft text would have the council condemn the attack by Israeli forces “in the strongest terms” as a violation of international law, express deep regret at the loss of life and call for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to undertake “an independent international investigation … to determine how this bloodshed took place and to ensure that those responsible be held accountable” and consider the issue of compensation.
The draft also calls on Israel to lift the blockade of Gaza and immediately release the ships and civilians it is holding.
Ban condemned the violence.
Britain, France, Russia and China — four out of the five veto-wielding Security Council members — called for the blockade of Gaza to be lifted and for an independent inquiry.
Turkey, the Jewish state’s chief regional partner, scrapped joint war games with Israel and recalled its ambassador, while Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the raid as “inhuman state terror”.
After statements from the 15 council members as well as Israel and the Palestinians, the council moved into closed consultations to consider possible action. The consultations then broke into a smaller group including the US, Turkey and Lebanon, which holds the council presidency.
Council members decided to take a brief dinner break nearly seven hours after their meeting began and then resume discussions on the latest draft which calls for “a prompt, independent, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.”
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Outrage
European nations, as well as the United Nations and Turkey, voiced shock and outrage at the bloody end to the international campaigners’ bid to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Once-close Muslim ally Turkey accused Israel of “terrorism” in international waters.
Many Security Council members criticised the Israeli action with degrees of vehemence, and said it was time for Israel’s three-year-old blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza to be lifted.
The European Union, a key aid donor to Palestinians, demanded an inquiry and an end to the embargo.
US
Israel’s most powerful friend, the United States, was more cautious — disappointing Turkey. President Barack Obama said he wanted the full facts soon and regretted the loss of life.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke by phone with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who provided “some initial details” of the incident, her spokesman, PJ Crowley, said.
“Ultimately, this incident underscores the need to move ahead quickly with negotiations that can lead to a comprehensive peace in the region,” Crowley said later in a statement.
UK
British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu to “respond constructively to legitimate criticism” of its storming of an aid ship bound for Gaza.
Cameron told Netanyahu in a telephone conversation yesterday that Britain “deplored the heavy loss of life”.
“He reiterated the UK’s strong commitment to Israel’s security, but urged Israel to respond constructively to legitimate criticism of its actions, and to do everything possible to avoid a repeat of this unacceptable situation,” a spokesman for Cameron said.
“The PM also stressed the importance of urgently lifting the blockade of Gaza, and allowing full access for humanitarian aid.”
Earlier yesterday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for a “full, and impartial and independent investigation or inquiry” into yesterday’s events off the coast of Gaza.
Protests
Tens of thousands of Turks took to the streets, some shouting “Damn Israel!” and demanding “A tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye, revenge, revenge!”
About 1,200 people joined a noisy protest in Paris yesterday against Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, and further demonstrations were planned for the weekend.
Demonstrators rallied near the Israeli embassy waving Palestinian flags and shouting slogans such as “Palestine will survive, Palestine will conquer”, while some voiced support for the Hamas movement that governs the blockaded Gaza strip.
Around a hundred protestors threw stones at officers and tried to break police barriers surrounding the Israeli embassy.
–Agencies