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Wednesday 2 June 2010

Gaza flotilla: Israel starts to free foreign activists - BBC

Activists arrive in Jordan, 2 June The activists arrived in Jordan after a 10-hour holdup at the border
Israel has begun releasing the first of hundreds of foreign activists seized on board an aid flotilla trying to break its blockade of Gaza.
More than 120 activists were bussed to Jordan, where a crowd of sympathisers greeted them. Hundreds more are due to be deported over the next two days.
At least nine pro-Palestinian activists died when Israeli commandos raided the six-ship convoy early on Monday.
Israel says its troops acted in self-defence, but campaigners deny this.
The incident has sparked widespread concern and led to calls for Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Israel has maintained control of Gaza's airspace and territorial waters, as well as most of its land borders, since withdrawing troops and settlers from the territory in 2005.
According to the UN, Gaza receives about one-quarter of the supplies it used to receive in the years before the blockade was tightened in 2007.
Israel and Egypt sealed off the territory after militant group Hamas seized power there in 2007.
Deportations begin

LEGALITY OF CONVOY RAID

  Mavi Marmara just before it left Istanbul on 22 May  
Q&A: Israeli raid on aid flotilla Israeli raid: What went wrong? Guide: Gaza under blockade Convoy raid sparks press fury In pictures: Aid flotilla raid protests
Some 124 pro-Palestinian activists arrived in Jordan via the Allenby crossing on Wednesday morning.
The activists came from mainly Muslim nations - most of them without diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Pakistan.
They were greeted by a crowd of sympathisers, who cheered and chanted in celebration after a 10-hour wait on the Jordanian side of the border, says the BBC's Dale Gavlak at the border.
Another 50 Turkish activists have been released from prison, prior to being deported, Israeli officials said.
Hundreds of other activists - including 30 Britons and 10 more with dual British nationality - are still in Israeli jails, but Israel says it is aiming to complete deportations by Thursday.
Israel had seized more than 670 people with the ships. Around 50 activists were deported early on Tuesday, but had faced mounting calls to free those still be detained.
"All foreign nationals who were on board the fleet and were arrested will be deported from Tuesday night," the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's said in a statement on Tuesday.
Amid ongoing diplomatic concern at the incident, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the situation in Gaza "unsustainable".
She said on Tuesday that Washington would support an Israeli investigation of the raid but it must be "prompt, impartial, credible and transparent", as called for by the UN Security Council.
Hillary Clinton: "The situation is Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable"
And President Barack Obama was reported to have called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express his condolences over the loss of life on the Turkish-registered lead vessel.
Mr Erdogan has described the assault as a "bloody massacre" and said must be punished. He said Israel should not test Turkey's patience.
Turkey, formerly a close ally of Israel, has been one of the states most vocal in its condemnation of the raid.
Diplomatic sources in Ankara have said at least four of those killed were Turkish.
Irish concern Meanwhile, another ship carrying aid has set sail for Gaza intending to challenge the Israeli blockade, organisers said.
Greta Berlin, of the Free Gaza Movement, said on Tuesday the MV Rachel Corrie would "be there within the week".
Five of those on board are Irish, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, prompting Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen to appeal for its safe arrival in Gaza.
"If any harm comes to any of our citizens it will have the most serious consequences," he told parliament on Tuesday.
He said Dublin had asked Israel to ensure the boat "complete its journey unimpeded and discharge its humanitarian cargo in Gaza".
Eyewitness accounts of the raid from some of those activists released earlier cast doubt on Israel's version of events.
Israel said its soldiers were attacked with "knives, clubs and other weapons" when they landed on the Turkish passenger ship Mavi Marmara and had opened fire in self-defence.
German politician Norman Paech said he had only seen wooden sticks being brandished as troops abseiled on to the deck of the ship.
And Israeli Arab MP Haneen Zuabi told a press conference that troops began firing while still in the helicopters hovering over the ships.



HOW ISRAEL RAID UNFOLDED
The flotilla of six ships, including the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara, was on its way from Cyprus to Gaza carrying supplies including cement, paper and water purification tablets.
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The six ships, carrying more than 100 tonnes of aid and 700 campaigners, had sailed from Cyprus in a bid to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Israel had warned organisers that the flotilla would not be allowed to arrive.
Following the Israeli raid, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip to be opened.
The Rafah crossing has been closed since 2007, although special medical cases are occasionally allowed through.
The Egyptian state news agency said the latest opening was to allow humanitarian aid through. It is not clear how long it will be kept open.

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