Botched Raid Haunts Israel
A day after Israeli commandos raided an aid flotilla seeking to breach the blockade of Gaza, international pressure mounted for Israel to end its controversial blockade and Egypt’s president ordered a temporary reopening of its border with the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian and medical aid to reach the 1.5 million people there.
Hours earlier, the Israeli military said troops clashed with two militants who infiltrated from Gaza, and killed them both. While such occurrences are almost routine along the volatile border between Israel and Gaza, the clash underscored the tensions seizing the region after Monday’s confrontation at sea, which strained relations between Israel and the United States just as US-sponsored proximity talks involving Palestinians and Israelis were getting under way.
There was little sign that inter national criticism of Israel was easing.
After protracted wrangling, the United Nations Security Council condemned “acts” leading to the loss of life in Israel’s operation in international waters on Monday, which had claimed the lives of nine civilians, many of them Turks aboard a Turkish vessel. The Security Council also urged an impartial inquiry — a call echoed in a separate forum by Russia and the European Union on Tuesday at a meeting of officials in Russia.
The Vatican weighed in as well, calling the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories a “political injustice,” Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, was flying home after canceling a Tuesday meeting with US President Barack Obama. Netanyahu has defended the military’s actions, saying the commandos were set upon by passengers on the Turkish ship they boarded and fired only in self-defense.
Israel said the violence was instigated by pro-Palestinian activists who presented themselves as humanitarians but had come ready for a fight. Organizers of the flotilla accused the Israeli forces of opening fire as soon as they landed on the deck, and released videos to support their case.
The MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off on Monday from Malta, organzers said. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen described the vessel as Irish-owned and said it should be allowed to finish its mission. The ship was carrying 15 activists including a northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate.
An Israeli marine lieutenant, who was not identified, told Israel’s Army Radio his unit was prepared to block the ship.
An Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said 634 activists, mostly from the Turkish ship, who had refused to identify themselves were being detained at a prison in southern Israel, where they were awaiting deportation procedures. Forty-five others had agreed to identify themselves and were being deported.
Hours earlier, the Israeli military said troops clashed with two militants who infiltrated from Gaza, and killed them both. While such occurrences are almost routine along the volatile border between Israel and Gaza, the clash underscored the tensions seizing the region after Monday’s confrontation at sea, which strained relations between Israel and the United States just as US-sponsored proximity talks involving Palestinians and Israelis were getting under way.
There was little sign that inter national criticism of Israel was easing.
After protracted wrangling, the United Nations Security Council condemned “acts” leading to the loss of life in Israel’s operation in international waters on Monday, which had claimed the lives of nine civilians, many of them Turks aboard a Turkish vessel. The Security Council also urged an impartial inquiry — a call echoed in a separate forum by Russia and the European Union on Tuesday at a meeting of officials in Russia.
The Vatican weighed in as well, calling the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories a “political injustice,” Italy’s ANSA news agency reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, was flying home after canceling a Tuesday meeting with US President Barack Obama. Netanyahu has defended the military’s actions, saying the commandos were set upon by passengers on the Turkish ship they boarded and fired only in self-defense.
Israel said the violence was instigated by pro-Palestinian activists who presented themselves as humanitarians but had come ready for a fight. Organizers of the flotilla accused the Israeli forces of opening fire as soon as they landed on the deck, and released videos to support their case.
The MV Rachel Corrie, a converted merchant ship bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed in the Gaza Strip in 2003, set off on Monday from Malta, organzers said. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen described the vessel as Irish-owned and said it should be allowed to finish its mission. The ship was carrying 15 activists including a northern Irish Nobel Peace laureate.
An Israeli marine lieutenant, who was not identified, told Israel’s Army Radio his unit was prepared to block the ship.
An Israeli police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said 634 activists, mostly from the Turkish ship, who had refused to identify themselves were being detained at a prison in southern Israel, where they were awaiting deportation procedures. Forty-five others had agreed to identify themselves and were being deported.
posted by chickcomics | 11:17 AM
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