Israeli capt. says activists greeted soldiers by 'wielding clubs, axes and knives'
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli soldier who was thrown off the deck following a raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla recalled today how he was attacked by 20 people "wielding clubs, axes and knives" -- stunned that a boatload of peace activists would have "wanted to kills us."
In his first interview since he was wounded in Monday's raid, the Israeli -- identified only as "Captain R." -- said hundreds of people who were on the boat took part in attacking him and his soldiers and they were forced to use weapons because of danger to their lives, according to Ynetnews.com
"Dozens of people beat each soldier on the roof [of the vessel]," he said from his bed in the Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. "They wielded clubs, axes and knives," he said. "I was the second to go down the cable, one of the guys from my group was already down there, and there were a few people on him. At first it was one-on-one, until more soldiers came down."
The pro-Palestinian flotilla had been headed to Gaza with tens of thousands of tons of aid that Israel bans from Gaza. Following days of warnings, Israel intercepted the flotilla under the cover of darkness -- setting off a violent melee that left nine activists dead and dozens of people, including seven soldiers, wounded.
Most of the dead were believed to be Turks.
Israel said 679 people were arrested from the ship and about 50 of those had left the country voluntarily. Hundreds who refused to cooperate remained jailed and subject to deportation.
Israel said the Gaza blockade is needed to prevent the Iranian-backed Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into the Jewish state, from building up its arsenal. It also wants to pressure Hamas to free an Israeli soldier it has held for four years.
The captain said the soldiers had prepared for both passive and violent resistance -- but admitted he had been surprised by the strength of the resistance.
"We knew they were peace activists," he said. "Though they wanted to break the Gaza blockade, we thought we'd encounter passive resistance, perhaps verbal resistance – we didn't expect this. Everyone wanted to kill us. We encountered terrorists who wanted to kill us and we did everything we could to prevent unnecessary injury."
The unnamed captain said he was tossed from the deck amid the fighting.
"I was in front of a number of people with knives and clubs. I cocked my weapon when I saw that one was coming towards me with a knife drawn and I fired once." he recalled. "Then another 20 people came at me from all directions and threw me down to the deck below."
He said he "felt a stabbing in my stomach. It was a knife. I got the knife out, then somehow got down to the lower deck where there were more people. This was when the soldiers had got control of all the boat except the lower deck. Me and another soldier managed to get to the deck, and we jumped into the water, from where our forces collected us. Another soldier who was beaten hard lost consciousness. Other soldiers covered him until we managed to get him out."
The captain said despite the fighting, it was ultimately a successful operation.
"I think we worked excellently," he said. "We applied all the things we learned and drilled, including purity of arms. We acted only against those who endangered us, and we had to fire at them."
Pro-Palestinian activists sent another boat to challenge Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip today, while Egypt declared it was temporarily opening a crossing into the Palestinian territory.
The raid provoked ferocious international condemnation of Israel, raised questions at home and appeared likely to increase pressure to end the blockade that has deepened the poverty of the 1.5 million Palestinians in the strip.
Turkey, which unofficially supported the flotilla, has led the criticism, calling the Israeli raid a “bloody massacre” and demanding that Washington condemn the raid. The White House has reacted cautiously, calling for disclosure of all the facts.
Amid the increasing tensions, the Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday, and an Islamic militant group said three of its members were killed after firing rockets into southern Israel. Israeli authorities say the rockets landed in open areas and caused no injuries.
Two militants infiltrating into Israel from Gaza were killed in a separate incident Tuesday, the military said.
Israeli capt. says activists greeted soldiers by 'wielding clubs, axes and knives' - NYPOST.com