There are reports that there were attempts to wrest weapons away from the IDF troops and other reports that the commandos were attacked with knives and axes. At least two people are reported dead and scores injured:
Passengers tried to grab weapons away from soldiers boarding the Gaza protest flotilla, starting the violence, Army Radio reported Tuesday morning, responding to accusations that Israeli commandos assaulted the ships guns blazing.
Activists aboard the ships repeatedly said they would not respond with violence to the navy's interception of their flotilla.
At least two activists were killed and dozens more were wounded in clashes as hundreds of Israeli commandos boarded the ships, firing guns and employing gas, Turkish media and Al-Jazeera reported earlier Tuesday morning.{...}
The flotilla's change of course earlier in the night to force the confrontation with the navy to occur in daylight seemed to have succeeded. The attack began still under cover of dark, but continued in daylight.
Earlier tonight, the IDF contacted the boats by radio, clarified that the Gaza Strip is a closed military zone and offered the sailors two options: to follow the navy to Ashdod Port or be commandeered by commandos, according to flotilla organizers.
The initial contact took place about 200 km. off the Gaza Coast. Flotilla organizers said they detected three Israel Navy ships on the radar.
Just to re-emphasize...if what these 'activists' really cared about was delivering humanitarian aid, all they needed to do was to follow the Israeli ships to Ashdod. after which th eIsraelis would have unloaded the cargo, checked through it and then sent it to Gaza. That obviously wasn't their agenda.
Initial reports were originally all over the place with reports of as many as 16 `activists' killed.As usual, those reports tended to be exaggerated and based on sensational claims by al-Jazeera and Turkish media, with two deaths looking like the right total.
One IDF soldier was reportedly injured during the raid after being stabbed in the stomach. According to an IDF source, "The sail's participants were not innocent and used violence against the soldiers. They were waiting for the forces' arrival."
Given the careful briefing the soldiers got from their commander before the operation, the fact that the 'activists' provoked the violence seems credible.
We'll see what develops.
It's now up to 10 dead, dozens injured, the JPost is reporting that it was an ambush, the morons had planned in advance to use violence, one moron seized a soldiers weapon & opened fire. It was a deliberate provocation meant to generate media coverage & the usual anti-Israel propaganda.
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