From the Jerusalem Post:
International activists aboard the ships opened fire on IDF soldiers who boarded the ships to prevent them from breaking the Israeli-imposed sea blockade, the IDF said Monday.
According to the IDF, the international activists “prepared a lynch” for the soldiers who boarded the ships at about 2 a.m. Monday morning after calling on them to stop, or follow them to the Ashdod Port several hours earlier.According to the IDF, the international activists “prepared a lynch” for the soldiers who boarded the ships at about 2 a.m. Monday morning after calling on them to stop, or follow them to the Ashdod Port several hours earlier.
According to IDF reports, at least 15 activists were killed during the ensuing clashes and dozens were wounded. Some of the wounded were evacuated to Israeli hospital by Air Force helicopters. Five Navy commandos were also wounded, some of them from gunfire. At least 2 soldiers were seriously wounded. ...
Upon boarding the ships, the soldiers encountered fierce resistance from the passengers who were armed with knives, bats and metal pipes. The soldiers used non-lethal measures to disperse the crowd.
The activists, according to an IDF report, succeeded in stealing two handguns from soldiers and opened fire, leading to an escalation in violence.
Reuters, reporting from Dubai, has a round-up of what's euphemistically known as international reaction, ranging from dhimmi clucking to the death-to-Israel crowd. As usual, the facts are lost and never mitigating in anti-Israel translation:
Israel's storming of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla set off an international furore on Monday, threatening to further strain ties with Turkey and drawing criticism from friends and enemies alike.
France's foreign minister said he was "profoundly shocked" ....
The head of the Arab League said Arab states must reconsider their dealings with Israel in light of the violence ...
"Israel will have to endure the consequences of this behaviour," the [Turkish] ministry said in a statement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the killings as a massacre and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the violence could not be justified.
"I am profoundly shocked by the tragic consequences of the Israeli military operation against the Peace Flotilla for Gaza," Kouchner said in a statement.
"The circumstances of this drama must be fully brought to light and we wish for a thorough inquiry to be put in place without delay."
But he already said the actions could not be justified so why bother with a kangaroo court, I mean, inquiry?
Iran, one of Israel's biggest foes in the Muslim world, said the killings were "inhuman" and would help lead to the Jewish state's demise.
"All these acts indicate the end of the heinous and fake regime and will bring it closer to the end of its existence," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told state broadcaster IRIB. ...
Meanwhile, back in Iraq:
An Iraqi government official has condemned Israel's attack on a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla on Monday.
The attack can only be described as a "new humanitarian disaster," Khairallah al-Basri, a member of current premier Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition, told the German Press Agency dpa.
Excuse me, Mr. Member of Maliki's party. How many hundreds of people have been blown up, maimed and assassinated in Iraq lately?
"I do not think this attack was unique, rather it is an extension of the piracy employed by Israel to block all roads and ports from popular efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza," he said.
"Every once in a while Israel undertakes shameful crimes amidst the silence of the Arab and Islamic countries and the international community," he added.
He described the attack as "a violation of human rights and a breach of international standards and norms. The world's countries must stand firmly with the Palestinians, and a continuation of Israel's attacks will have negative repercussions."
That sure was a good use of blood and treasure to "stand up" another Islamic "republic" enemy of Israel -- and of us.