At least ten peace activists have been killed in an Israeli attack on a humanitarian aid ship making its away to the Gaza Strip in international waters. The Mavi Marmara was part of a flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement carrying nearly 700 international activists and over 10,000 tons of aid. On Monday, Israeli forces stormed the ship nearly forty miles off the Gaza coast. In the Occupied Territories, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack as a “massacre.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: “There is no doubt that Israel had planned for this attack and it meant to take part in this in order to put down the world and the people from supporting the Palestinian people. This is why it carried out this sinful attack in this sinful massacre against those innocent.”
Hundreds of activists are being detained in an Israeli prison, and nearly fifty others have been deported. Israel has still not released the names of the dead, injured, and detained international civilians.