Home > 19 dead: world condemns deadly israeli ship attack
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Israeli commandos have stormed an international aid convoy bound for Gaza leaving up to 19 dead and sparking mass protests across the world.
Britain joined other countries in denouncing the attack as "deplorable" and Palestine described the bloodshed as a "massacre".
The deadly dawn raid on a Turkish ship sparked a mass protest in Istanbul with 10,000 people marching through the street, burning Israeli flags.
Commandos, dressed in black and armed with rifles, dropped down ropes from helicopters onto the Mavi Marmara boat, heading a flotilla of six.
Israeli officials said the soldiers opened fire after activists attacked them with iron bars, axes and knives.
They added that activists had tried to "lynch" one of the commandos and blamed the violence on passengers.
But a reporter on the boat said the commandos had begun firing before landing on the vessel.
Twenty eight Britons and a number of Greeks, Swedish and Irish were aboard the flotilla which was 80 miles off Gaza.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I deplore the loss of life during the interception of the Gaza Flotilla.
"We are asking for more information and urgent access to any UK nationals involved."
There were unconfirmed reports that senior Arab Israeli Islamist leader Raed Salah had been badly hurt in the clashes.
The raid was widely condemned by the international community, with France, Sweden, Greece, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Turkey among countries denouncing Israel.
EU ambassadors said they would hold an emergency meeting in Brussels today into the escalating diplomatic crisis.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said he was "shocked" by the seriousness of the raid and demanded a full investigation.
The flotilla, carrying about 10,000 tonnes of aid and up to 700 passengers on six vessels, had been warned by Israel not to pass a sea blockade.
The activists were headed to Gaza on a mission designed to draw attention to a three-year-old Israeli blockade of the coastal territory.
Turkey has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council as protesters in Istanbul tried to storm the Consulate building but were blocked by police.
A Foreign Ministry statement said: "We strongly condemn these inhumane practices of Israel.
"This deplorable incident, which took place in open seas and constitutes a flagrant breach of international law, may lead to irreparable consequences in our bilateral relations," it added.
Israel blamed the activists for the violence but expressed regret for the deaths. It told its citizens to avoid travel to Turkey.
"They [the activists] initiated the violence," Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Sky News.
"We made every possible effort to avoid this incident. The servicemen were given instructions that it was to be a police operation and to use maximum restraint.
"Unfortunately they were attacked with deadly force by the people on the boats - with iron bars, knives and live fire."
Mr Netanyahu cut short a trip in Canada and America to return home. He had been due to meet Barack Obama.
The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas described the deaths as a "massacre".
Hamas meanwhile urged Arabs and Muslims to "rise up" in front of Israeli embassies across the globe in protest.
"We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world," said Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri.
There were already plans for protests in Athens and outside Downing Street in London.
Israel’s Arab community called a general strike and hundreds of people from across the political spectrum flooded onto the streets of Nazareth to protest.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called for a "full inquiry" into the raid
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced the attack as "inhuman," saying it brought Tehran’s arch-foe "closer than ever to its end."