Israeli-Palestinian conflict (28 Viewers)
- Thread starter ReBeL
- Start date
Nine activists were shot 30 times, autopsy shows
The nine men killed during an Israeli navy raid on a ship carrying aid to Gaza were shot a total of 30 times, the head of the state forensics laboratory said on Saturday.
Most of the victims, who were all Turkish, were shot at close range with what may have been pistols, Haluk İnce, chair of the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), told Reuters. “The deaths of all nine were caused by bullets from firearms,” he said. “One body had two bullets in the arm, one in the back and one in the knee. In another, there was only one bullet: right in the center of his brow.” Two of the men were shot five times, while one was hit six times, according to the autopsies performed by the forensics lab.
Five people were shot in the head, İnce said. He declined to name which victims were shot how many times. Witnesses have described scenes of chaos when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a ship that was part of a six-vessel convoy carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who planned to break a three-year blockade on Gaza.
Abid Mahi, 30, a British volunteer on the Mavi Marmara, told Reuters he heard something whizz past his right ear from behind and, an instant later, saw a man in front of him collapse and, Mahi believes, die. “It wasn’t a raid, it was an attack,” he said.
Israel has said its soldiers were acting in self-defense once they intercepted the ship and passengers on the Mavi Marmara attacked them, posing a threat to their lives.
Besides those killed, 24 people are being treated in a hospital in the capital Ankara. Seven are in critical condition, according to physicians.Britain’s Guardian newspaper also reported on the autopsy results carried out by the ATK, stressing that results showed that a 61-year-old man, İbrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, Furkan Doğan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less than 45 centimeters away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the Guardian reported.
None of the wounds İnce and his team examined were caused by ricocheting bullets but were all direct hits. All but one of the bullets recovered by examiners were of a 9 mm caliber, İnce said. “The bullets we obtained from the bodies are generally used in short-barreled guns,” İnce said.
Examiners were unable to identify one bullet in available information on firearms. “Normally all weapons are in the record, but we researched this and couldn’t find it in our literature,” İnce said.
“When we opened the skull and reached the brain, we saw this [object] for the first time,” he said. “I have been in forensics for 20 years and have never seen something like this.”
This bullet caused a wound that looked like those caused by projectiles from hunting rifles, İnce said. “He had a circular entrance wound on his right temple with a diameter of about 2-2.5 centimeters,” he added. Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said in an editorial in The New York Times that spent cartridges of a caliber not used by Israeli special forces were found on the Mavi Marmara. The activists said they had no guns on board.
The ATK in İstanbul received the corpses at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. Israeli authorities had already carried out preliminary examinations of the dead men but had not performed actual autopsies, İnce said.
06 June 2010, Sunday
REUTERS WITH TODAY'S ZAMAN ANKARA
The nine men killed during an Israeli navy raid on a ship carrying aid to Gaza were shot a total of 30 times, the head of the state forensics laboratory said on Saturday.
Most of the victims, who were all Turkish, were shot at close range with what may have been pistols, Haluk İnce, chair of the Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK), told Reuters. “The deaths of all nine were caused by bullets from firearms,” he said. “One body had two bullets in the arm, one in the back and one in the knee. In another, there was only one bullet: right in the center of his brow.” Two of the men were shot five times, while one was hit six times, according to the autopsies performed by the forensics lab.
Five people were shot in the head, İnce said. He declined to name which victims were shot how many times. Witnesses have described scenes of chaos when Israeli commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, a ship that was part of a six-vessel convoy carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists who planned to break a three-year blockade on Gaza.
Abid Mahi, 30, a British volunteer on the Mavi Marmara, told Reuters he heard something whizz past his right ear from behind and, an instant later, saw a man in front of him collapse and, Mahi believes, die. “It wasn’t a raid, it was an attack,” he said.
Israel has said its soldiers were acting in self-defense once they intercepted the ship and passengers on the Mavi Marmara attacked them, posing a threat to their lives.
Besides those killed, 24 people are being treated in a hospital in the capital Ankara. Seven are in critical condition, according to physicians.Britain’s Guardian newspaper also reported on the autopsy results carried out by the ATK, stressing that results showed that a 61-year-old man, İbrahim Bilgen, was shot four times in the temple, chest, hip and back. A 19-year-old, Furkan Doğan, who also has US citizenship, was shot five times from less than 45 centimeters away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the Guardian reported.
None of the wounds İnce and his team examined were caused by ricocheting bullets but were all direct hits. All but one of the bullets recovered by examiners were of a 9 mm caliber, İnce said. “The bullets we obtained from the bodies are generally used in short-barreled guns,” İnce said.
Examiners were unable to identify one bullet in available information on firearms. “Normally all weapons are in the record, but we researched this and couldn’t find it in our literature,” İnce said.
“When we opened the skull and reached the brain, we saw this [object] for the first time,” he said. “I have been in forensics for 20 years and have never seen something like this.”
This bullet caused a wound that looked like those caused by projectiles from hunting rifles, İnce said. “He had a circular entrance wound on his right temple with a diameter of about 2-2.5 centimeters,” he added. Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said in an editorial in The New York Times that spent cartridges of a caliber not used by Israeli special forces were found on the Mavi Marmara. The activists said they had no guns on board.
The ATK in İstanbul received the corpses at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. Israeli authorities had already carried out preliminary examinations of the dead men but had not performed actual autopsies, İnce said.
06 June 2010, Sunday
REUTERS WITH TODAY'S ZAMAN ANKARA
ANKARA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was considering sailing to the Gaza Strip as part of an aid flotilla backed by the Turkish Navy.
Lebanese newspaper al Mustaqbal quoted security sources as saying that Mr Erdogan was pondering the move in order to break the barrier imposed against Gaza by Israel.
It said that "as part of the open conflict between Turkey and Israel following the massacre against the 'freedom sail' to Gaza and the protest sparked in the world, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is considering going to Gaza himself in order to break the blockade imposed on the Strip."
The sources said Erdogan raised the option in discussions with associates.
The report added that the Turkish leader also told the U.S. that he planned to ask his navy to escort another aid flotilla - but officials in Washington asked him to delay the plan in order to look into the matter.
The move followed strong criticism of Israel by Erdogan after Israeli armed forces killed several people on board an aid flotilla Monday, sparking widespread international condemnation.
When the possibility of Erdogan joining a flotilla was posed to Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, he said such a move was not a "realistic scenario" and dismissed it outright.
"Some of these reports must be taken with a grain of salt ... I am not sure that is a realistic scenario," he told Sky News.
"I prefer that we sort these things out peacefully. Nobody wants any saber-rattling. It does not do any good," said Regev.
Lebanese newspaper al Mustaqbal quoted security sources as saying that Mr Erdogan was pondering the move in order to break the barrier imposed against Gaza by Israel.
It said that "as part of the open conflict between Turkey and Israel following the massacre against the 'freedom sail' to Gaza and the protest sparked in the world, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan is considering going to Gaza himself in order to break the blockade imposed on the Strip."
The sources said Erdogan raised the option in discussions with associates.
The report added that the Turkish leader also told the U.S. that he planned to ask his navy to escort another aid flotilla - but officials in Washington asked him to delay the plan in order to look into the matter.
The move followed strong criticism of Israel by Erdogan after Israeli armed forces killed several people on board an aid flotilla Monday, sparking widespread international condemnation.
When the possibility of Erdogan joining a flotilla was posed to Mark Regev, the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, he said such a move was not a "realistic scenario" and dismissed it outright.
"Some of these reports must be taken with a grain of salt ... I am not sure that is a realistic scenario," he told Sky News.
"I prefer that we sort these things out peacefully. Nobody wants any saber-rattling. It does not do any good," said Regev.
Israel Navy reserves officers: Allow external Gaza flotilla probe
Officers denounce operation as 'military and diplomatic failure', slam government for placing blame on the activists.
By Anshel Pfeffer
A group of top Israel Navy reserves officers on Sunday publicly called on Israel to allow an external probe into its commando raid of a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla last week, which left nine people dead and several more wounded.
In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, the Navy officers denounced the commando raid as having "ended in tragedy both at the military and diplomatic levels."
"We disagree with the widespread claims that this was the result of an intelligence rift," said the officers. "In addition, we do not accept claims that this was a 'public relations failure' and we think that the plan was doomed to failure from the beginning."
"First and foremost, we protest the fact that responsibility for the tragic results was immediately thrust onto the organizers of the flotilla," wrote the officers. "This demonstrates contempt for the responsibility that belongs principally to the hierarchy of commanders and those who approved the mission. This shows contempt for the values of professionalism, the purity of weapons and for human lives."
The Navy officers' letter came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his top ministers to deliberate a United Nations proposal to create a joint international committee alongside Turkey and the United States to investigate the circumstances of the deadly raid.
The cabinet was also to discuss the creation of an internal committee to look into the incident. Netanyahu earlier Sunday rejected the idea of an international panel, and reiterated that Israel had the right to conduct its own investigation.
Netanyahu discussed the proposal for a multinational panel with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone call on Saturday but told cabinet ministers fon Sunday that Israel was exploring other options, political sources said.
"I told [Ban] that the investigation of the facts must be carried out responsibly and objectively," Netanyahu told ministers. "We need to consider the issue carefully and level-headedly, while maintaining Israel's national interests as well as those of the Israel Defense Forces."
-Huffington Post
Officers denounce operation as 'military and diplomatic failure', slam government for placing blame on the activists.
By Anshel Pfeffer
A group of top Israel Navy reserves officers on Sunday publicly called on Israel to allow an external probe into its commando raid of a Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla last week, which left nine people dead and several more wounded.
In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, the Navy officers denounced the commando raid as having "ended in tragedy both at the military and diplomatic levels."
"We disagree with the widespread claims that this was the result of an intelligence rift," said the officers. "In addition, we do not accept claims that this was a 'public relations failure' and we think that the plan was doomed to failure from the beginning."
"First and foremost, we protest the fact that responsibility for the tragic results was immediately thrust onto the organizers of the flotilla," wrote the officers. "This demonstrates contempt for the responsibility that belongs principally to the hierarchy of commanders and those who approved the mission. This shows contempt for the values of professionalism, the purity of weapons and for human lives."
The Navy officers' letter came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his top ministers to deliberate a United Nations proposal to create a joint international committee alongside Turkey and the United States to investigate the circumstances of the deadly raid.
The cabinet was also to discuss the creation of an internal committee to look into the incident. Netanyahu earlier Sunday rejected the idea of an international panel, and reiterated that Israel had the right to conduct its own investigation.
Netanyahu discussed the proposal for a multinational panel with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone call on Saturday but told cabinet ministers fon Sunday that Israel was exploring other options, political sources said.
"I told [Ban] that the investigation of the facts must be carried out responsibly and objectively," Netanyahu told ministers. "We need to consider the issue carefully and level-headedly, while maintaining Israel's national interests as well as those of the Israel Defense Forces."
-Huffington Post
Turkey and Palestine signed an agreement to establish a joint committee on Monday.
Foreign ministers of the two countries signed the agreement, prior to the meeting between Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Head of the Palestinian State Mahmoud Abbas which is taking place on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) in İstanbul.
The agreement signed by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad El-Maliki aims to draw the framework of Turkey's aid and support to the Palestinian state.
The committee which will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries is foreseen to convene at least twice every year, in order to determine areas of cooperation and lay down action plans.
Turkey will provide political consultation to Palestine, provide training to its diplomats and training in the areas technical cooperation. The committee also aims to increase investments in the areas of water resources and agriculture. It also aims to draw the cooperation in the fields of culture, education, health and science.
Under the agreement Turkey will provide more scholarships to Palestinian students in Turkish universities and support investments in Palestine for construction of schools and improvement of the existing education infrastructure. In the area of health, Turkey will share its know-how in the medical field.
Following the signing of the agreement, Gül and Abbas held a meeting which was closed to the press.
07 June 2010, Monday
THE ANATOLIA NEWS AGENCY İSTANBUL
Foreign ministers of the two countries signed the agreement, prior to the meeting between Turkish President Abdullah Gül and Head of the Palestinian State Mahmoud Abbas which is taking place on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia (CICA) in İstanbul.
The agreement signed by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad El-Maliki aims to draw the framework of Turkey's aid and support to the Palestinian state.
The committee which will be co-chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries is foreseen to convene at least twice every year, in order to determine areas of cooperation and lay down action plans.
Turkey will provide political consultation to Palestine, provide training to its diplomats and training in the areas technical cooperation. The committee also aims to increase investments in the areas of water resources and agriculture. It also aims to draw the cooperation in the fields of culture, education, health and science.
Under the agreement Turkey will provide more scholarships to Palestinian students in Turkish universities and support investments in Palestine for construction of schools and improvement of the existing education infrastructure. In the area of health, Turkey will share its know-how in the medical field.
Following the signing of the agreement, Gül and Abbas held a meeting which was closed to the press.
07 June 2010, Monday
THE ANATOLIA NEWS AGENCY İSTANBUL