U.S. "deeply regrets" casualties in Israeli raid on Gaza aid flotilla

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The United States "deeply regrets" the loss of life and injuries in an Israeli raid on a flotilla of aid boats to the Gaza Strip, the White House said Monday.

Israeli forces on Monday attacked the aid ships when trying to stop the flotilla from reaching Gaza, killing up to 20 and wounding more than 30 others.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

UN chief condemns aid flotilla raid, calls for full investigation

KAMPALA, May 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said here on Monday that he condemned the Israeli attack on the aid flotilla heading for Gaza and called for a full investigation.

"I condemn this violence. It is vital that there is a full investigation to determine exactly how this bloodshed took place," he said at a press briefing after the opening ceremony of the first review conference of International Criminal Court. He said he was shocked by the incident.

"I believe Israel must urgently provide a full explanation," he noted, saying he has instructed special coordinator to actively engage on the ground in urging restraint in ensuring that no further harm is done and coordinate with all the relevant parties.

The world was plunged in shock after Israeli forces attacked a fleet of aid-carrying ships bound for Gaza on Monday, leaving at least 15 people killed.

The attack in international waters, 65 km off the Gaza coast, has drawn quick criticism from many countries in Europe and Arab world.

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Pan-Islamic body condemns Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla

RIYADH, May 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) strongly condemned an Israeli attack against an international aid fleet Gaza Freedom Flotilla, that has killed 20 activists.

"This crime is a serious escalation and a flagrant violation of the international law and human values," OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in a statement.

The chief of the pan-Islamic body also held Israel responsible for the safety of the activists and offered condolences to the families of the victims.

Ihsanoglu also reiterated a call for ending the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip for over four years.

The statement said Ihsanoglu called upon the Arab and Islamic group in the United Nations to call urgent meetings at the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council to examine "this heinous crime."

The secretary-general of the Jeddah-based body also said he would hold contacts with international sides to push for an investigation into the Israeli attack and "punish the Israeli officials over the crimes they commit against humanity."

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Thousands of Turks protest against Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla

ISTANBUL, May 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

About 10,000 of Turkish protestors gathered in Istanbul on Monday to demonstrate against an attack by Israeli forces on the international Gaza aid flotilla that has killed 20 people, including Turkish activists.

Holding Palestinian and Turkish flags, the protestors gathered in Taksim square in central Istanbul, chanting slogans against killing activists who were on board boats carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Some supporters even shouted slogans, calling on Turkish troops to intervene in Gaza against the Israeli army.

They first gathered before the Israeli consulate in the city to protest the Israeli threats against the flotilla that was trying to break a blockade on the coastal enclave.

More protesters soon joined the gathering before the mission located in Istanbul's central Levent district early Monday soon after midnight local time.

The predominantly-religious crowd of nearly 2,000 demonstrators spilled into the streets, disturbing traffic at one of Istanbul's busiest streets, and shouted anti-Israel slogans and held up Palestinian flags and Islamic banners.

Police removed the protesters from the foyer of building and back behind the barriers, when news of Israel's violent intervention against the six-ship relief flotilla reached the protesters.

Vendors in the streets set up stands selling Palestinian and Islamic banners and headbands condemning Israel.

This is just a spark that "will extend from Turkey and spread to the world," protester Hakan Erden, a 40-year-old advertiser, told Xinhua.

Israel made a huge mistake, according to protester Menderes Arican, a 45-year-old shopkeeper. "It shouldn't have done this; this is something you don't do even if you are told to."

Arican said the attack was the "beginning of the end for Israel, " adding losing a friendly country like Turkey and being alone in the world was a mistake.

Protestor Ibrahim Dogan, 49, told Xinhua that Israel will now be isolated in the worldwide public opinion, saying that "Israel's supporters in Turkey and in the world will not be able now to defend it."

Resat Baser, an official with the Human Rights and Freedoms Humanitarian Aid Foundation, said they had received information that the ships were taken to Israel's Haifa Port but could not confirm the information.

Turkish Foreign Ministry on Monday strongly condemned the attack, warning the move could damage the two countries' relations.

The ministry has summoned the Israeli ambassador for an urgent explanation of the issue, according to a statement by the ministry.

Israel has been imposing a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip since the Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the enclave by force in June 2007. However, Israel said that in spite of the blockade, it allowed food, fuels and humanitarian aid into the enclave over the past three years.

The flotilla consisted of six ships carrying about 10,000 tons of aid and had set sail from a port in Cyprus on Sunday. It was scheduled to reach Gaza by Monday morning.

The flotilla, originally made up of nine ships from Turkey, Britain, Ireland, Greece, Kuwait and Algeria, were carrying cement, water purification systems and wheelchairs. One of the ships had not arrived and two others had been damaged.  

Editor: Bi Mingxin

Israeli attack on Gaza aid flotilla outrages world

GAZA, May 31, 2010 (Xinhua) --

The predawn Israeli naval forces attack against international aid convoy Gaza Freedom Flotilla, in which 20 activists on the board were killed and more than 30 wounded, outraged Arab and world countries.

Robert Serry, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, and Filippo Grandi, commissioner-general of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), condemned in a joint statement the Israeli attack on Gaza Flotilla.

"We are shocked by reports of killings and injuries of people on board the convoy carrying supplies to Gaza, apparently in international waters. We condemn the violence and call for it to stop. The situation is still ongoing and we are awaiting confirmation of what has happened," said the joint statement.

Israeli and Turkish media reports said that hundreds of Israeli naval soldiers attacked the ships of the Freedom Flotilla and clashed with the activists, killing at least 20 and injuring about 30. Ten Israeli officers were also injured.

"However, we are in contact with the Israeli authorities to express our deep concern and to seek a full explanation. We are also urging them in the strongest terms to ensure that no further steps are taken that could endanger civilian lives," said the joint statement of UN officials.

The statement added that they "wish to make clear that such tragedies are entirely avoidable if Israel heeds the repeated calls of the international community to end its counterproductive and unacceptable blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip."

The Freedom Flotilla, which includes three ships and five vessels, was carrying around 700 activists, members of different Arab and European countries, as well as international solidarity movement members, and humanitarian aids, medicines and construction materials to Gaza.

Israel has imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip and closed all its commercial crossings on the borders with the Gaza Strip right after Islamic Hamas movement seized control of the enclave by force in June 2007. However, Israel said humanitarian aid is allowed into the enclave.

Following the attack on the convoy, the governments of Sweden, Greece, France, Spain and Turkey summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their countries respectively for clarifications on what had happened, local and international media reports said.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) called on the Arab League and the UN Security Council to hold emergency sessions to discuss the Israeli attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla. A PNA statement called for investigating the Israeli attack on the aid convoy.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a press statement it is a "brutal attack of Israeli forces against the Gaza flotilla," adding, "The Gaza flotilla is an international effort to break the Israeli siege on Gaza, bringing tons of humanitarian aid to help the 1.5 million Palestinians besieged there."

"What we have seen this morning is a war crime. These were civilian ships carrying civilians and civilian goods -- medicines, wheelchairs, food, construction materials -- intended for the 1.5 million Palestinians holed up under a cruel and criminal siege by Israel," said Erekat.

Referring to the current status of Gaza, he added "the Israeli government has been trying to deny that Gaza is under occupation. However, the fact that Israel is preventing humanitarian aid to freely access the besieged strip clearly shows that Gaza is still occupied."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently on a visit to Jordan, said in a statement published by the state-run Wafa news agency that "what Israel has committed against the activists of the Freedom Flotilla is a massacre," calling for three-day mourning and flags at half-mast.

Ismail Haneya, prime minister of the deposed Hamas government, described the Israeli attack as "the biggest piracy in the world." He telephoned several leaders in the world, and expressed his government's outrage over the Israeli attack.

Editor: Deng Shasha