Tel Aviv- Israel on Wednesday quickened the pace of expelling detained activists from a Gaza-bound flotilla as the diplomatic fallout from its deadly raid on the ships widened. With relations with Turkey at a new low, Israel ordered families of its diplomats out of that country. About 200 Turkish activists were bused before dawn to Israel's international airport for flights home, while 124 from a dozen Muslim nations without diplomatic relations with Israel were deported and crossed into Jordan before sunrise. Israel has come under censure worldwide ever since its naval commandos stormed an aid flotilla in international waters on Monday, setting off clashes that left nine activists dead and dozens wounded. Israel says its soldiers opened fire only after coming under attack. Israel on Tuesday announced it would deport most of the nearly 700 activists detained during the raid. Corrections department spokesman Yaron Zamir said Wednesday that the 200 Turkish activists would board planes Turkey had sent to pick them up.
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday urged the immediate lifting of "the inhumane embargo on Gaza," and Cairo announced the opening of its border with the territory, ruled by the Islamist group Hamas, an offshoot of Egypt's main opposition. The United Nations called for an impartial investigation of the deaths of the nine people, four of them Turks, in the takeover by naval commandos who met violent resistance. "Israel's behavior should definitely, definitely be punished," a visibly angry Erdogan told a meeting of his parliamentary deputies, adding: "The time has come for the international community to say 'enough'." Erdogan's Islamist views and outreach to Iran and Israeli enemies are blamed by many in Israel for souring ties between the Jewish state and Turkey, once its closest Muslim ally. The bloodshed also put Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's tense ties with US President Barack Obama under further strain. Netanyahu canceled talks with Obama to fly home from Canada to deal with the crisis. The Israeli military said the nine were killed when commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara, the cruise ship on which most of the violence occurred, from helicopters and dinghies and opened fire in what Netanyahu said was self-defense. A formal statement agreed by the U.N. Security Council drew a sharp response from Israel, which said its foreign minister complained in a telephone call with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that it was condemned unfairly for "defensive actions." The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had visited some of the activists held by Israel. "We have been granted access to dozens of activists from the convoy of ships now being held by the Israeli authorities and we are re-establishing contact with their families," Pierre Wettach, head of the ICRC delegation in Israel and the occupied territories, said in a statement issued in Geneva. The ICRC strongly deplored the deaths and injuries resulting from Israel's operation. "The high number of casualties raises serious questions concerning the methods and means used by the Israel Defense Forces to prevent the flotilla from proceeding to Gaza," it said. At the Gaza frontier town of Rafah, dozens of people raced for the Egyptian border after Egypt, like Turkey a leading Muslim nation in the region, said it would be opened "for an unlimited time" to allow Palestinians and aid to cross. Hamas requested the opening. Cairo, coordinating with Israel, has rarely opened the border since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.
