Israeli navy storm Gaza-bound ships

JUST IN: At least 10 people were killed as Israeli forces stormed a boat carrying pro-Palestinian activists bound for Gaza, Israeli private channel 10 television reported on Monday.

Marine commandos opened fire after being attacked with axes and knives by a number of the passengers on board the aid ships, the television said, without giving the source of its information.

The station did not say whether the dead and injured were passengers or members of the Israeli navy.

EARLIER: Activists sailing an aid convoy to Gaza said two people were killed and about 30 wounded on Monday when Israeli forces boarded a Turkish ship that was part of the flotilla which Israel had vowed to stop.

There was no comment from Israel, where public radio quoted an Arab journalist aboard one ship as saying the navy had intercepted the activists and that shooting had been heard.

"Two people have been killed on board the Turkish boat and 30 or more were wounded," said Mary Hughes Thompson, a spokesewoman for the Free Gaza Movement, which was behind the convoy.

"As far as we know IDF (Israeli military) commandos descended on the boat from helicopters and took it over."

The convoy set off in international waters off Cyprus on Sunday in defiance of an Israeli-led blockade of the Gaza Strip and warnings that it would be intercepted.

The flotilla was organised by pro-Palestinian groups and a Turkish human rights organisation. Turkey had urged Israel to allow it safe passage and said the 10,000 tonnes of aid the convoy was carrying was humanitarian.

Israel had said it would prevent the convoy from reaching the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamist Hamas group.

Israel and Egypt tightened a blockade on Gaza after Hamas took over the territory in 2007. Israel launched a devastating military offensive in Gaza in December 2008 with the aim of halting daily rocket fire towards its cities.

Most of the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza rely on aid, blaming Israel for imposing restrictions on the amount and type of goods it allows into the territory.

The United Nations and Western powers have urged Israel to ease its restrictions to prevent a humanitarian crisis. They have been urging Israel to let in concrete and steel to allow for postwar reconstruction.

Israel denies there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying food, medicine and medical equipment are allowed in regularly. It says the restrictions are necessary to prevent weapons and materials that could be used to make them from reaching Hamas.
 

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