Turkish Gaza Aid Flotilla Attacked By Israeli Navy
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Two of the most reliable news sources in the Middle East, Haaretz and Al Jazeera, are both reporting this morning that Israeli forces have attacked a Turkish aid flotilla headed for Gaza. At least 10 activists have been killed and scores wounded, although reports are currently varying on the exact number.
Two of the most reliable news sources in the Middle East, Haaretz and Al Jazeera, are both reporting this morning that Israeli forces have attacked a Turkish aid flotilla headed for Gaza. At least 10 activists have been killed and scores wounded, although reports are currently varying on the exact number.
The Israeli naval vessels reportedly made contact earlier with the six-ship flotilla, which is carrying 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid and supplies to Gaza, reported Haaretz.com.
Some 700 pro-Palestinian activists are on the boats, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor.
The Israeli navy was operating under the assumption that the activists manning the boats would not heed their calls to turn around, and Israeli troops were prepared to board the ships and steer them away from the Gaza shores and toward the Israeli port city of Ashdod.
Huwaida Arraf, one of the flotilla organizers, said the six-ship flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday afternoon after two days of delays. According to organizers, the flotilla was expected to reach Gaza, about 400 kilometers away, on Monday afternoon, and two more ships would follow in a second wave.
The flotilla was fully prepared for the different scenarios that might arise, and organizers were hopeful that Israeli authorities would do what’s right and not stop the convoy, one of the organizers said.
What followed, therefore, was not a ‘best case’ scenario, as reported by Al Jazeera, with live footage from on board the flotilla.
More than 10 people were killed and dozens injured when troops intercepted the convoy of ships dubbed the Freedom Flotilla early on Monday, the Israeli military said.
The Israeli Army Radio had earlier said that up to 16 people had been killed.
The flotilla was attacked in international waters, 65km off the Gaza coast.
Footage from the flotilla’s lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.
Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.
The Israeli military said four soldiers had been wounded, two of them moderately, and claimed troops opened fire after “demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs”.
Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the ships.
Thousands of Turkish protesters tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul soon after the news of the operation broke. The protesters shouted “Damn Israel” as police blocked them.
Turkey is also reported to have summoned the Israeli ambassador to lodge a protest.
Where do we go from here?
Geopolitical analysts describe the flotilla as an attempt by both sides to shape external perceptions of Israel’s blockade on Gaza. The Turkish interest is in highlighting the plight of Palestinians at the hands of Israel, providing Ankara with a useful level in the region to claim the mantle of the strongest defender of the Palestinians in Gaza, a reputation Iran has been attempting to build.
The Israeli interest is in preventing a loss of control over Gaza and portraying the flotilla supporters as supporters of terrorist elements based in Gaza. The violence that has taken place, however, will likely place Israel at a disadvantage in this contest. Turkish activists may decide to decide to send more ships, or provide the ships with Turkish military escorts in the future.
What will bear close watching is the question of how the diplomatic community, particularly in the United States and Europe, chooses to respond to the incident.
Haaretz is reporting that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is mulling over whether to cancel his trip to the US this week. This suggests that even the Israelis expect the immediate response to be frosty, to say the least.
With Turkey growing in importance as an American ally, some would say maybe a more important ally than Israel going forward, the bigger question is whether an already strained US-Israel relationship will now suffer more permanent cracks?
