Israeli media: 16 killed in the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla

[ 31/05/2010 - 06:04 AM ]

NAZARETH, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces' (IOF) attack on the ships of the Freedom Flotilla heading to Gaza killed 16 individuals on board and wounded at least 60 others, the Israeli TV quoted unofficial military sources as saying.

It said that the decision to attack the unarmed ships was taken by Ehud Barak, the war minister, in a military meeting.

Turkish media outlets had said earlier that two persons were killed in the start of the IOF attack while many others were wounded some of them in serious conditions, charging Israel with committing a "massacre".

IOF soldiers assaulted the ships at an early hour on Monday using live bullets causing this big number of casualties especially among the elderly people on board.

The Flotilla is carrying 750 foreign activists from 40 countries including lawmakers and official and notable figures in addition to 10,000 tons of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.

The media reports indicated that the IOF used gunboats and military choppers in the attack, landing dozens of soldiers on board the ships.

Media sources accompanying the Flotilla said that the IOF navy started to commandeer those ships to Ashdod port, after declaring that all on board were under arrest.

The European campaign to end the siege on Gaza, one of the organizers of the Flotilla, said that all contacts with the ships were severed, charging that the attack took place in international waters.