The United Nations Security Council which gathered yesterday in an emergency meeting on the request of Turkey and Lebanon over the raid of aid ships by Israeli soldiers which resulted in the death of at least nine people.
Israeli soldiers land on the Mavi Marmara of helicopters.
The UN Security Council has called for an impartial (unbiased) investigation into the Israeli attack on the aid ships which were carrying humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip.
The UN also requested the immediate release of all civilians by the Israeli government after it was reported that over 300 of the activists were arrested.
The UN Security Council which released a statement condemning Israel’s actions lasted for 10 hours after Turkey and Lebanon requested an emergency meeting.
Turkey has called for the open condemnation of Israel over the country’s raid on the aid Flotilla on International waters from the International community.
The statement by the United Nations read, we condemn “those acts which resulted in the loss of at least 10 civilians and many wounded.”
It continued “The Security Council took note of the statement of the UN Secretary General on the need to have a full investigation into the matter and it calls for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards,”
According to the statement, Israel will conduct its own investigation, which is what the United States favored, rather than an independent investigation.
The Security Council has asked for the immediate release of all the ships and civilians by Israel. But it is reported that Israel will be releasing only 48 people and keep over 400 of the activists presumably until they are legally processed.
The emergency Security Council by the United Nations has also put pressure on Israel to lift the embargo on the Gaza strip.
Though the Israeli government has said that there were nine people who had been killed in the clashes between the Israeli Defense Forces and the activists, there is wide belief that this figure is higher.
The Palestinian UN observer, Riyad Mansour, criticized Israel’s actions and defined the attack on International waters as a war crime.
“Those fleets, one after the other, will be coming until the unethical blockade is put to an end and the suffering stops for our people,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests have continued all over the world with pro-Palestinian activists condemning Israel’s actions to the aid Flotilla to Gaza and calling for International pressure for Israel to lift the Gaza embargo.
Yesterday, Istanbul’s Taksim Square filled with up to 10,000 protesters chanting anti Israel flags while there were marches in Arab countries, with Israeli flags being burnt.
