(Reuters) – About
15 people were killed on Monday when the Israeli navy intercepted a
convoy of aid ships that activists were trying to sail to the Gaza
Strip, Israel’s Channel 10 private television network said.
Earlier, a spokesman for the Free Gaza
Movement which organized the six-ship flotilla said at least two were
killed.
Casualties could hurt
Israel’s international image and diplomatic relations, especially its
long-time regional Muslim ally Turkey”>Turkey, whose
flag some of the aid ships were flying.
Israel
has said it was absolutely determined to maintain its blockade of the
Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory of 1.5
million. It has previously halted such activist ships, although others
have reached Gaza before.
Amid
Israeli military censorship and a refusal of Israeli officials to
comment on what appeared to be a continuing operation three hours after
dawn broke over the Mediterranean, Channel 10 made clear … >>>
