Death toll from Gaza aid attack hits 20

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128431§ionid=351020202


The death toll from the Israeli navy's takeover of a Gaza aid convoy has risen to 20 while Israel carefully censors reports on the casualties from the attack.

Gaza Freedom Flotilla came under fire early on Monday by Israeli navy forces in international waters more than 150km (90 miles) off the coast of Gaza.

The six-ship aid fleet was soon stormed by commandos descending from helicopters.

At least 20 people were killed in the takeover of the Gaza aid convoy, a Press TV correspondent reported, saying that more than 50 people were also wounded in the attack.

The news trickled through the Israeli military censorship which has sought to block the reporting of any information about the casualties.

A report on the radio said the censorship was aimed at covering up the number of casualties brought to Israeli hospitals for treatment.

Meanwhile, Israeli Trade and Industry Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer expressed regret for the deaths aboard the Gaza aid ships.

"The images are certainly not pleasant. I can only voice regret at all the fatalities," he told Israel's Army Radio.

The comments come as the first official acknowledgement by Tel Aviv that the attack had turned fatal.

Israel had initially declined to comment on the reports of casualties from the takeover of the aid ships.

MRS/CS/MRS

Protesters try to storm Israeli consulate in Turkey
CNN-Turk and NTV televisions protesters scuffling with Turkish police guarding consulate building in central Istanbul. Turkey calls attack 'unacceptable', summons Israel ambassador.
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press

Turkish police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli Consulate in Istanbul over reports of an Israeli attack on at least one aid ship in international waters on Monday, news channels reported.

CNN-Turk and NTV showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police guarding the consulate in downtown Istanbul.

"Damn Israel," the protesters shouted.

Two TV networks reported earlier that Israeli warships attacked the six ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid for blockaded Gaza, killing at least 10 and wounding an unknown number of people on board.

"We were not expecting such an operation in international waters," Omer Faruk Korkmaz, an official of the pro-Islamic aid group, IHH, that led the aid shipment said in Turkey. "Israel has been caught redhanded and the international community will not forgive it."

Korkmaz said the ship was being escorted to Haifa.

Turkey's foreign ministry called the reported attack "unacceptable" and summoned the Israeli ambassador to to discuss the incident - bringing already tense relations between Turkey and Israel to new levels.

"(The interception on the convoy) is unacceptable ... Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour," the ministry said in a statement.

Murat Mercan, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, said: "I was expecting an intervention. I was not expecting bloodshed, the use of arms and bullets."

"Israel is engaged in activity that will extremely hurt its image," he said.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy ... sulate-in-turkey-1.293172

Det här kan vara förevändningen alla extemister gått och väntat på. Betänk också att säkerligen ingen av de döda och skadade var israeler eller palestinier. Många internationella förvecklingar kan komma ur det här.