http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/01/gaza.raid.resolution/index.html?hpt=T1
(CNN) -- Israel's closest Muslim ally accused the Jewish state Tuesday of a "bloody massacre" against an aid flotilla of six ships carrying humanitarian goods bound for blockaded Gaza.

"We see clear murder taking place, and we see an aggressive country" that's not regretting this, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday in a parliamentary address. "We're sick and tired of your lies. Be honest."

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak approved the opening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt for humanitarian purposes, state-owned television reported. However, Palestinian officials said Egypt would keep the crossing open for only a few days.

But Hamas authorities, who are in charge of Gaza, were not prepared for the sudden change, Palestinian sources in Gaza told CNN. As of Tuesday afternoon, there was still no transportation of people or supplies into or out of Gaza.
Also Tuesday, three people died in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian sources told CNN. The Israel Defense Force confirmed it launched an airstrike that generated secondary explosions, suggesting that ammunition or explosives were in that area.

Israeli imposed a blockade of Gaza in 2007 after the militant Hamas took control of the Palestinian area and Egypt closed off the Rafah crossing. The aid flotilla challenged the blockade.

Were you there? Send stories, images

The U.N. Security Council called for a "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent" investigation into Monday's raid by Israel.

"The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza," the 15-member council said in a statement.

How has the world reacted to the raid?

"The council in this context condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least 10 civilians and expresses condolences to the families," it said.

It is not clear how many people died in the pre-dawn raid by the Israeli military.

Israel put the number at nine, but did not release the names of those who died. The Free Gaza Movement, one of the groups that organized the convoy of six ships, said the fatalities numbered higher but did not offer an exact number.

Q&A: Aid and Israel's Gaza blockade

Israeli soldiers rappelled onto the deck of the ships from a helicopter. The boarding of the ships took place in international waters more than 70 nautical miles (130 km) outside Israeli territorial waters, according to IHH, one of the flotilla organizers.

Yigal Palmor, the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman, told CNN on Tuesday that Israel regrets the casualties but said "the sole responsibility" for the violent incident lies with activists who have "chosen violence and confrontation."

The six ships were carrying more than 10,000 tons of aid and 600 passengers from more than 20 countries, according to the Free Gaza Movement.

The attack sparked protests in several countries and brought condemnation worldwide.

About 1,000 people from an Islamic hardline group rallied peacefully in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Protesters in several major cities planned similar demonstrations. Two such rallies were scheduled in New York and Chicago, Illinois.

Despite strong condemnation of the deadly attack, especially from Turkey, the delivery of four Israeli drones to Turkey won't be interrupted, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said on Tuesday.

"We expect the remaining Herons to be delivered in June or July," Gonul said.

Israel said that 600 activists in the flotilla were transported to Beer Sheva prison in southern Israel.

Forty-five of them agreed to identify themselves to Israeli authorities and are citizens of the following countries: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Sweden, Turkey, the United States and the United Kingdom. They have now either left Israel or are on their way out of the country, an Israeli official said.

The British Foreign Office said it was trying to provoide consular access to the roughly 40 British citizens believed involved in the aid flotilla. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said two Egyptian lawmakers were released and were headed back to Egypt.

And Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin called for the immediate release of seven Irish citizens who were on board the flotilla.

"The seven individuals concerned did not enter Israel illegally; rather they were essentially seized from international waters, taken into Israel and asked to sign documents confirming that they entered illegally. This is simply not acceptable," he said.

Those who remain detained are ones who have refused to identify themselves to Israeli immigration authorities, an Israeli Prison Authority spokesman told CNN. None have been placed under arrest, he said.

Among the ones who have refused to give their names are many foreigners, a police spokesman said. The process involved in deporting these latter protesters is more complicated because it requires the involvement of foreign diplomats, police said.

Some of the first accounts emerged Tuesday from eyewitnesses who were aboard several boats stormed by Israeli forces as they approached Gaza the day before.

Hanin Zoabi, a member of the Israeli parliament, was on board the Miva Marmara, the ship that was the scene of the confrontation between activists and Israeli soldiers. The Israeli Navy fired on the ships five minutes before commandos descended from ropes that dangled from helicopters, Zoabi said during a news conference in Nazareth, Israel. She said passengers on board the ship were unarmed.

Israel has said its forces found several weapons among the passengers on the Miva Marmara. Israel also has said that its forces started shooting after passengers on the Miva Marmara assaulted them.

Zoabi said the military operation lasted about an hour and that she saw five dead bodies in that time.

Israel said the goods that the convoy was carrying was being sent to their intended destination in Gaza. Palestinian officials confirmed that five trucks were allowed into Gaza, carrying wheelchairs.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has a pre-scheduled meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

The U.S. response has been more tempered than that of Turkey.

President Barack Obama expressed "deep regret" at the deaths and "also expressed the importance of learning all the facts and circumstances around this morning's tragic events as soon as possible," the White House said Monday.

Why the raid will cause headaches for the United States

That did not impress Turkey's ambassador to the United States, Namik Tan, who called the U.S. response "sort of weak."

"Israel should not get away with this," Tan said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a scheduled meeting with Obama this week to return to Israel to manage the crisis.

The Israeli government described the flotilla as a "provocation," and had said it would allow the aid on the flotilla through its normal channels: unload it at Ashdod port and transfer it to Gaza.

"The organizers' intent was violent, their method was violent and the results were unfortunately violent," said Danny Ayalon, the Israeli deputy foreign minister.

Raid sparks demonstrations around the world

Since the summer of 2008, five flotillas have gotten through the blockade to deliver humanitarian goods to Gaza. Monday's flotilla was expected to be the largest such mission.

I think before jumping all over Isreal, the UN should consider Isreal's claim that activists commited it.
In any case, an agreement is an agreement, and Egypt broke their agreement with Isreal.

I agree that people are jumping on Israel's back a bit too quick for my tastes.

For one thing, you cannot tell me that there were no weapons on board that ship. Peaceful activist or not, when the Israeli army tells me they're going to stop me by any means needed, I'm packing a rifle in my luggage. And you're also not going to BS me into believing that amongst those 600+ people, there wasn't one guy who had an itchy trigger finger.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't put it above Israel to do this, after all, they're the ones who even erected the darn blockade. But I saw videos of some of those activists, they were a bit too motivated to getting those supplies there for their own health. They looked like the kind of people who would, oh, let's say... Resist against an armed force when they are told to surrender, perhaps even grabbing for make-shift weapons when they are boarded?

I don't expect to learn what actually happened here; this will probably just be twisted this way and that until they get over it.

I agree, it's the same old story, people twist the story to make themselves look like the innocent party, while both probably f*** something up.

But honestly, what the hell is up with the UN assaulting Israel without even listening to the story? Is that how we do things nowadays? Just assault the guys who are being accused without learning the facts? Nice going.

The UN is really just a vehicle for a nations individual interests to be known. Most likely the truth is just being shouted out because the nations who actually have influence in the UN probably want this pinned on Isreal.
Politics isn't about right ot wrong, anyway. It's about power.

I find it ironic it's Turkey slamming them, seeing how you know, they kind of are still sweeping a genocide they commited under the rug. >>

Two videos of the first few minutes of the entering :





Btw, look at around 1 minute at the first video, one of the soldiers is clearly holding a paintball gun, NOT a real one.

You're not serious are you?

Well, no, cause I wouldn't be stupid enough to go into a military blockade.

so you mean you're kidding