Israel on Monday attacked a convoy of humanitarian vessels in international waters, receiving wide international condemnation but insisting that the ships' passengers were belligerent.
Flotilla not peaceful?
Israel's deputy UN ambassador Daniel Carmon said the Freedom Flotilla stormed by the Israeli military was not peaceful.
The Israeli military stormed the Turkish-flagged six-ship Freedom Flotilla carrying some 10,000 tons of aid to the Islamist-run Gaza Strip and 700 human rights activists in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea on Monday.
Nine activists have been confirmed dead but Arab media reports put the toll at close to 20. Dozens were reported injured. The international community has widely condemned Israel, with Turkey withdrawing its ambassador and calling for an emergency UN Security Council session.
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Israel committed an act of "state terrorism."
Carmon said the flotilla was "not humanitarian" and that the passengers of one ship resisted the Israeli soldiers, which, he said, was not typical of civilians.
He also said weapons are being constantly smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza, including by sea, and added that the flotilla intended to bypass official checkpoints for goods and cargoes authorized by Israel.
The Israeli military admitted that it intercepted the international aid ship en route to the Gaza Strip in neutral waters in the Mediterranean Sea.
"It happened in international waters, we confirm this," an Israeli Army spokesman told RIA Novosti, adding: "We did it there because we did not know what was happening on the ships and suspected there were explosives and other weapons on board."
Media said that Turkish, U.S., British, Australian, Greek, Canadian, Malaysian, Algerian, Serbian, Belgian, Irish, Norwegian, Swedish and German citizens were on board of the vessels.
Israel, which has enforced an almost constant blockade against Gaza since the radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the enclave in summer 2007, earlier called the mission a "provocation" and threatened to intercept the ships and deport those onboard.
The Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, left the conference hall after the Israeli representative started his speech. Asked by journalists to comment on the claims that the humanitarian convoy attacked Israeli military, he called the claims "absurd."
Davutoglu said the UN Security Council must take measures to punish those guilty for the deaths of people during the Israeli raid. He said at the United Nations that Israel must also apologize to the world community and the families for those who were killed on board the ship, and that Israel must immediately lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Frustration of Middle East settlement efforts
A top member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party accused Israel of frustrating efforts of the international community to secure peace in the Middle East.
"Israel does not want peace, this is how the latest events connected with the humanitarian cargo ships' seizure... can be explained," Huseyin Celik, a deputy chairman of the party, told RIA Novosti.
Celik said Israel must be held accountable "to the full extent" for what happened.
In all, there were six vessels in the flotilla heading for the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid. Israel escorted them to the port of Ashdod. It said it will send the humanitarian aid by land once it has been inspected.
Celik said: "Israel, to speak frankly, made a terrorist raid against some 700 people in convoy."
He lamented that "a peacekeeping action led to consequences so dramatic."
Worldwide condemnation
The international community unanimously condemned what Israeli commandos had done. Protest demonstrations took place in many countries.
Russia has condemned the Israeli raid on the ships in neutral waters that were bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, Russia's first deputy ambassador to the UN said Monday.
Alexander Pankin also expressed his hope that the incident would not avert the continuation of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. He also expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed during the incident.
"Moscow has expressed condemnation and deep concern in regard to the incident in international waters, first of all taking into account of the large number of dead and injured among the participants of the humanitarian caravan," Pankin said, adding: "It is obvious that using weapons against civilians and seizing ships on the open seas without any legal basis are considered severe breaches in common international legal norms."
Pankin said Russia sees the incident as confirmation of the fact that Israel must stop the blockade in the Gaza Strip and make genuine steps in easing the humanitarian and social situation for the residents of the region.
Netanyahu cancels meeting with Obama
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently in Canada, has canceled a planned meeting with the U.S. President Barack Obama over a growing international crisis sparked by the attack.
The two leaders rescheduled their meeting and agreed to meet at "at the first opportunity."
Obama called on Israel to carry out a careful investigation into Monday's attack.
"The President expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today's incident, and concern for the wounded, many of whom are being treated in Israeli hospitals. The President 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 in a statement.
Netanyahu expressed regret over the loss of life, but said he fully supported the Israeli military, who stormed a ship in neutral waters and shot to kill.
"The [Israeli] soldiers were stabbed and hit and even shot at. We regret every death but our soldiers were forced to defend themselves," he said.
UNITED NATIONS, June 1 (RIA Novosti)
