These weapons were used against Israeli Navy personnel as they attempted to board the ship. 7 soldiers were injured during the incident, which included activists taking two pistols from the soldiers and firing at them.
Israel to UN: Flotilla participants not peace activists
Deputy Ambassador Carmon asks Security Council emergency meeting, 'What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and other weapons to attack soldiers?' Turkish FM: Israel's hands are covered with blood
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting Monday evening, less than 24 hours after the deadly naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
During the meeting, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called Israel's actions "murder committed by a state without any justification."
"We saw an act of barbarism in live footage and Israel's hands are covered with blood," he added.
The deputy head of Israel's mission to the United Nations, Dan Carmon, told the Security Council, "Although portrayed in the media as a humanitarian mission delivering aid to Gaza, this flotilla was (not) a humanitarian mission. If indeed it were a humanitarian mission it would have accepted, weeks ago, during the planning stages, the offer by the Israeli authorities to transfer the aid, through to the port of Ashdod, to Gaza through the existing overland crossing, in accordance with established procedures. Many states and organizations, including the UN, are using those mechanisms on a daily basis.
"The Flotilla organizers not only rejected this offer, but stated clearly that (and I quote) 'this mission is not about delivering Humanitarian supply, but rather about breaking the Israeli siege,' as Greta Berlin, a flotilla spokesperson told the media last week."
Many UN ambassadors, including Israel's Gabriela Shalev, were unable to attend the meeting because they were not in New York when it was announced.
Carmon continued to say, "What kind of Humanitarian activists demand to bypass the United Nations, the Red Cross, and other internationally recognized agencies? What kind of peace activists use knives, clubs and other weapons to attack soldiers who board a ship in accordance with international law? What kind of Humanitarian activists, some with known terrorist history, embrace Hamas, a terrorist organization that openly shuns a two state solution and calls for Israel destruction, defying conditions set by the international community and the Quartet? The answer is clear: they are not peace activists; they are not messengers of good will. They cynically use a humanitarian platform to send a message of hate and to implement violence."
"Let me remind the Council that a state of armed conflict exists between Israel and the Hamas terrorist regime controlling Gaza. Let me remind the Council that rockets and mortars are still being launched by Hamas and others toward southern Israel. Let me remind the council that Gaza is occupied by terrorists that ousted the PA in a violent coup, and that arms are continuously being smuggled, including by sea. Let me stress that a maritime blockade is a legitimate and recognized measure under international law that may be implemented as part of an armed conflict at sea," he added.
The Israeli official said the radical Turkish IHH organization, one of the primary organizers of the flotilla, announced just prior to boarding "we are going to resist and resistance will win.”
Carmon said IHH "has a radical anti-Western orientation. Alongside its legitimate humanitarian activities, it supports radical Islamic networks such as Hamas, and at least in the past has even supported global jihad elements, such as al-Qaeda.
"Being a so-called humanitarian mission, these champions of human rights also rejected in the initial planning stage an Israeli request to ask Hamas to allow the Red Cross to visit captured soldier Gilad Shalit," he added.
The Turkish FM responded to Carmon's claims by saying that the flotilla was carrying supplies "for the children of besieged Gaza, and now these children don't know where their next meal will come from."
The Palestinian observer in the UN, Riyad Mansour, told reporters prior to the meeting that he expects a swift response to Israel's actions. "We hope the Security Council will take decisive action…A response that will demand explanations from Israel and condemn (Israel) for this operation. The blockade on the people in Gaza must be lifted."
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