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news
worldnews
middleeast
israel
7794622
-----
# Gaza aid flotilla attack: 42 Britons detained by Israel
## Israel has detained 31 British nationals and a further 11 with dual
nationality following the storming of an aid flotilla heading for the Gaza
Strip in which nine civilians were killed.
3:54PM BST 01 Jun 2010
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has called on Israel to mount a
''transparent and thorough'' investigation into the killings aboard ships that
were attempting to breach the Israeli blockade of the territory.
Mr Hague said one individual had already been deported while the rest were
being seen by British consular officials.
''They are all in the process of being visited and Israel is giving us the
appropriate consular access as, of course, they should,'' he said.
Mr Hague welcomed a statement by the United Nations Security Council calling
for a ''prompt, impartial, credible and transparent'' investigation into the
seizure of the flotilla by Israeli commandos early on Monday.
''We look to Israel to co-operate to implement that resolution with a
transparent and thorough investigation,'' he said.
## Related Articles
* [Gaza aid flotilla attack: Obama speaks to Turkey][1]
02 Jun 2010
* [Gaza aid flotilla: UN calls for impartial inquiry][2]
01 Jun 2010
* [Egypt opens border with Gaza for humanitarian aid][3]
01 Jun 2010
* [Five Palestinians killed by Israeli strike][4]
01 Jun 2010
* [Flotilla attack in pictures][5]
01 Jun 2010
* [Israel needs better public relations to defeat enemies][6]
01 Jun 2010
After a meeting of the National Security Council at the Prime Minister's
country residence at Chequers, Mr Hague said he expected the detained British
nationals to be deported by Israel "very quickly".
The Israeli authorities said 50 of the 679 activists taken off the flotilla
had already been taken to Israel's international airport for deportation.
The rest were being held at the Be'er Sheva detention centre in southern
Israel, having refused to identify themselves.
Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that
the detainees were being treated in line with international practice.
"We are not charging them with anything, we have detained them and we will
help them leave our country," he told the BBC.
However there was anger and concern among friends and relatives in the UK who
complained that they were unable to establish contact with the detainees or
find out what was happening to them.
Rachel Bridgeland, whose partner, Peter Venner, 63, from Ryde, Isle of Wight,
was on the Turkish aid ship the Mavi Marmara, said that the Government should
be putting more pressure on Israel.
"It's absolutely terrible not knowing what has happened to him and it's
terrible that the British Government hasn't done more but they don't want to
fall out with Israel," she said.
"They should insist that the British people are allowed to phone us, they have
done nothing illegal."
The British detainees were also thought to include Sarah Colborne, campaign
and operations director for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
PSC general secretary Betty Hunter said there was no justification their
detention.
"Those held illegally by the Israeli Government have committed no crime, they
have simply attempted to avert a humanitarian disaster by bringing much needed
medical supplies into Gaza," she said.
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that the incident underlined the
need for Israeli to lift its "unjustifiable and untenable" blockade of the
Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
"What is going on in Gaza has become a humanitarian catastrophe," he said.
"Whilst, of course, Israel has every right to defend itself and its citizens
from any attack, it must now move towards lifting the blockade in Gaza as soon
as possible."
The killing of civilian activists on board the Mavi Marmara - one of six ships
in the flotilla - drew worldwide condemnation.
The Security Council statement was finally agreed after the United States -
Israel's strongest ally - successfully watered down an earlier wording which
called for the Israeli action to be condemned "in the strongest terms".
Some of the harshest criticism came from Turkey, previously seen as Israel's
main ally in the Muslim world. Many of the activists on the ships - including
a number of the dead - were Turkish.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu described the action as an act of
"banditry and piracy" on the high seas and "murder conducted by a state".
Israel said its troops had been left with no choice after they came under
attack from activists armed with knives and iron bars when they were dropped
by helicopter onto the ship.
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flotilla-attack-42-Britons-detained-by-Israel.html
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