Live: Israel quizzes detainees after aid flotilla attack
Reageer (0)By Judith Evans and Jenny Booth
1-6-2010
10.50 BST: So what happens now to the activists who were aboard the ships? It appears they are being offered the choice of deportation or custody in an Israeli jail, with at least 45 already opting for deportation. Of these, five Germans including two MPs are home and safe, while more activists have arrived home in Turkey and Greece.
Those who did not agree to be deported, including some who refused to identify themselves, are being taken to a prison in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva. There, a judge will decide whether to prosecute each one; if no charges are brought, they will be deported within 72 hours. About 45 activists are still being treated in hospitals across Israel.
The activists came from 38 countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Algeria, Morocco, European countries and many from Turkey, but Israel has still not confirmed the nationalities of those killed in the violence.
10.40 BST: Our reporter Sheera Frenkel, in Jerusalem, sends this: “Speaking from his hospital bed, one commando identified as “A” says that he was repeatedly struck by objects when he rapelled onto the boat. He says that he was not armed with live ammunition, but with a paintball gun.”
10.30 BST: Relations between Turkey and Israel have not entirely broken down, it seems — at least not when it comes to arms sales. The Turkish Defence Minister Vecdi Gonul says the diplomatic crisis will not affect the planned delivery of Israeli-made Heron drones to Turkey.
Under the $180 million deal Turkey has received six drones and is set to take delivery of four more. Israel is also training Turkish drone operators.
10.20 BST More accounts from activists who were aboard the flotilla, this time from Athens as the first few people return from the Greek ship which was close to the Turkish vessel Mavi Marmara when the violence took place.
Mihalis Grigoropoulos told reporters at Athens airport, “They (Israelis) came down from helicopters and threw ropes from inflatable boats, climbing aboard. There was teargas and live ammunition.
“I was steering the ship, we saw them capture another ship in front of us, which was the Turkish passenger vessel with more than 500 people on board and heard shots fired.
“We did not resist at all, we couldn’t even if we had wanted to. What could we have done against the commandos who climbed aboard? The only thing some people tried was to delay them from getting to the bridge, forming a human shield. They were fired upon with plastic bullets and were stunned with electric devices.
“There was great mistreatment after our arrest. We were essentially hostages, like animals on the ground.
“They wouldn’t let us use the bathroom, wouldn’t give us food or water and they took video of us despite international conventions banning this.”
10.10 BST Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yildiz says that Ankara is examining its energy ties with Israel after the raid, with a final decision to be made by the Prime Minister.
At stake is a plan for Israel to import Turkish natural gas and another for Israel to become a transit country for Russian and Caspian energy.
Given the fury of the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday and the strains already affecting Israeli-Turkish relations, prospects for these do not now look great.
09:50 BST From an EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don comes a statement calling for for a “full and impartial” investigation into the Israeli operation against an aid flotilla and urging the opening of crossings into Gaza for the flow of aid, goods and people.
Signed by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the EU’s foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton of Upholland it’s the latest in a series of statements that protest against the blockade in general, not just yesterday’s violence.
09:40 BST According to The Jerusalem Post, Israel’s deputy Defence Minister has hinted that Israel sabotaged further ships which had been scheduled to travel with the Freedom Flotilla.
Speaking on Israel Radio, the minister, Manan Vilna’i, was asked whether it might not have been possible to stop the ships in a more sophisticated manner than storming them on the high seas. His response: “Every possibility was considered. The fact is that there were ten less ships in the flotilla than were originally planned.”
09:20 BST: Turkey has sent three planes to Israel to bring back 20 people wounded in the raid. Reuters has spoken to some of those already brought home to Turkey, including Nilufer Cetin, who was aboard the Mavi Marmara — the ship where the violence took place — with her one-year-old child.
Ms Cetin said: "We stayed in our cabin and played games amid the sound of gunfire. My son has been nervous since yesterday afternoon ... I did not need to protect my son. They knew there was a baby on board. I protected him by staying in my cabin, then went to the bathroom. I put a gas mask and life jacket on my son. We did not experience any other problems on board, only a water shortage.
"We took walks on the deck, played games with my son. The curtains were drawn, so I did not see not the raid as it was happening. I only heard the voices. There are lightly and heavily wounded people.
“There are thousands, millions of babies in Gaza. My son and I wanted to play with those babies. We planned to deliver them aid. We wanted to say ’Look, it’s a safe place, I came here with my baby son’. I saw my husband from a distance, he looked OK.
"The ship personnel was not wounded, because they [the soldiers] needed them to take the ship to port. I will go again if another ship goes.”
08:50 BST The Israeli military says that Gaza militants have crossed the border into Israel near Nirim and exchanged fire with troops. Israeli rescue services say two Palestinians were killed, after Israeli forces responded with shelling and missiles fired from helicopter gunships.
08:40 BST Around 400 Malaysians are holding a noisy protest outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, shouting: “Death to Israel” and waving posters with the slogan “Stop the massacre”.
08:30 BST The United Nations Security Council publishes the full text of the presidential statement it adopted several hours ago, after meeting in emergency session to discuss Israel’s military action against the aid flotilla. The statement condemns the raid, asks for the ships and activists held by Israel to be released, and calls for an independent and impartial investigation. It reads:
“The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and injuries resulting from the use of force during the Israeli military operation in international waters against the convoy sailing to Gaza. The Council, in this context, condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least ten civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families.
“The Security Council requests the immediate release of the ships as well as the civilians held by Israel. The Council urges Israel to permit full consular access, to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately, and to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the convoy to its destination.
“The Security Council takes note of the statement of the UN Secretary-General on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards.
“The Security Council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable. The Council re-emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of Resolutions 1850 and 1860. In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.
“The Security Council underscores that the only viable solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an agreement negotiated between the parties and re-emphasizes that only a two-State solution, with an independent and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors, could bring peace to the region.
“The Security Council expresses support for the proximity talks and voices concern that this incident took place while the proximity talks are underway and urges the parties to act with restraint, avoiding any unilateral and provocative actions, and all international partners to promote an atmosphere of cooperation between the parties and throughout the region.”
The statement was beaten out after 12 hours of negotiation, much of it behind closed doors, as the US sought to tone down Turkey’s outrage.
The statement incidentally reveals that the death toll in the raid has risen to ten. Most are believed to be Turkish.
08:20 BST Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemns the Israeli raid on the flotilla, as it emerges that an Australian man has undergone surgery after being shot in the leg, and two Australian women are being held at a detention centre in Beersheba. Last week Australia expelled an Israeli embassy official in protest at the use of forged Australian passports in an alleged assassination plot by Israeli spies.
08:10 BST Israel says it is ready to intercept another aid ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, that is due to reach Gazan waters tomorrow. The ship belongs to the Free Gaza Movement, which opposes Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory. An Israeli government spokesman said that no ship would be allowed to reach Gaza. “We will not let any ships reach Gaza and supply what has become a terrorist base threatening the heart of Israel,” deputy defence minister Matan Vilnai told public radio.
08:00 BST Israel is questioning 487 activists from the flotilla of mainly Turkish aid ships boarded by Israeli marine commandos in international waters en route to Gaza yesterday. They are reportedly being held at a prison in the port of Ashdod in southern Israel.
Yitzhak Aharonovitch, the Israeli Internal Security Minister, says that police are gathering evidence to prosecute activists who had set upon the marines with fists, batons, knives and gunfire. “All those who lifted a hand against a soldier will be punished to the full extent of the law,” he tells Israel Radio.
45 activists are being treated in hospital after being injured in the raid. A further 48 activists are being expelled from Israel aboard flights from Ben Gurion airport, according to public radio.
Among those on his way home is 81-year-old Edward Peck of Maryland, a former US ambassador to Mauritania and deputy director of former US President Ronald Reagan’s White House task force against terrorism. Ann Peck, his wife, said she had received an e-mail from the Israeli Foreign Ministry saying that he was well and would arrive at an airport in New York today — it did not specify which.
Source
