May 18 1:30 PM
Tel Aviv -
A turkish flotilla carrying NATO nationals of varying nationalities was attacked by the IDF off of the coast of Gaza today around 3 p.m. The flotilla was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza and was attempting to bypass the Israeli blockade. Reports confirm that Israeli Navy boarded the eight ships of the flotilla after they refused to halt despite orders from the Israeli Navy. At this point, it is unknown what caused the death of the the aid workers. The nationalities of the casualties were confirmed: five Turkish nationals, three French nationals and two American nationals. About a dozen were abducted from the ships by the IDF. They are suspected to all be of Turkish nationality and at least three of them are suspected to have dual Turkish-U.S. citizenships. The ships are said to have been carrying over 20,000 tons of indispensable humanitarian aid, with an estimated value of $30 million.
This incident is reminiscent of the May 2010 flotilla raid by the IDF which caused the death of nine Turks and heightened the political tension between Israel and Turkey. Israel's prime minister had recently apologised to Turkey for "any errors that could have led to loss of life" during the 2010 commando raid on the aid flotilla. A former statement about the apology from Mr Erdogan's office said the two prime ministers had agreed on making arrangements for compensation for families of the dead activists.
Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, called the decision to apologise a "serious error", Israeli news site Walla reported.
Experts in the region suspect this recent incident will further complicate the relationships between Israel, Turkey and the United States.
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