GAZA CITY: Israeli forces on Monday shot dead four Palestinian ‘commandos’ off Gaza as the Jewish state scrambled to cope with mounting fallout over an earlier deadly sea battle.
Palestinian witnesses said they saw Israeli helicopters and naval forces firing on a vessel off the coast south of Gaza City at about 4:00 am (0100 GMT).
Two hours later, four bodies in diving suits were pulled from the water, medical sources and witnesses said, describing the dead as "commandos." A search was under way for another two people still missing after the attack.
Israel’s military confirmed it had attacked a boat carrying "a squad of terrorists wearing diving suits on their way to execute a terror attack."
Speaking to AFP, survivor Abu Al-Walid said there were seven on board, all from the Al Aqsa Martrys’ Brigades, an armed group loosely tied to the secular Fatah movement.
Walid said there were "no arms in the boat," and that they had been engaged in "swimming training" at the time. "Four of our people were killed, two of us escaped and one is still missing," he said.
Shortly afterwards, the Israeli air force carried out a raid in northern Gaza, which left an armed Hamas policeman wounded, Palestinian medical and security sources said. The military said it was aimed at terrorists preparing to fire rockets into Israel.
The violence off Gaza came exactly a week after Israel’s navy mounted a bungled operation to stop an aid flotilla reach the beleaguered coastal Strip which has been under a tight blockade since 2006.
That operation descended into violence which left nine foreign activists dead, most of them Turkish, and has sparked a global backlash of fury — and a mounting diplomatic crisis for Israel.
The latest Gaza violence came hours after Israel deported the last of the 19 people on board the Rachel Corrie.
"They have all left," Israeli immigration official Sabine Haddad told AFP, saying the five Irish nationals, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, had flown out at 5:00 am (0200 GMT).
Six Malaysians and a Cuban were deported to Jordan on Sunday while six Filipinos and a Briton flew out overnight.
Israeli forces intercepted the Rachel Corrie on Saturday as it tried to reach the Gaza Strip, in a peaceful operation which stood in stark contrast to the raid on May 31.
Israel has vigorously defended the raid, saying its commandos only resorted to force after being attacked as they reached the deck, but activists on board claim the soldiers started firing first.
As Turkey continued call for Israel to be brought to justice over the raid, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas paid a condolence visit to Istanbul where he was to hold talks with President Abdullah Gul.
And Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak denounced Israel as "world gangsters" who should face the International Criminal Court over the flotilla attack.
