Gazans cross border after Egypt eases blockade over deadly Israeli flotilla raid

Gazans cross border after Egypt lifts blockade

RAFAH, Egypt — Egyptian officials say more than 100 Gazans have crossed the border into Egypt after the government temporarily eased its blockade of the Palestinian territory over Israel’s deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

The officials say two buses with 150 Palestinians crossed the border in the town of Rafah on Wednesday, including patients traveling for medical assistance abroad and those with foreign residency permits. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss the subject with media.

A handful of people also crossed into Gaza at the same point, along with four trucks carrying tents, blankets and 13 power generators donated by Russia and Oman.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

JERUSALEM (AP) — 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.

Some 300 other activists remain in a prison in southern Israel, Zamir added. Israel has said it intends to keep dozens of them in custody, alleging they were involved in violence against Israeli troops.

Several of the activists deported to Jordan early Wednesday told The Associated Press that they were deprived of food, water, sleep and access to toilets in Israeli detention.

“The Israelis roughed up and humiliated all of us — women, men and children,” said Kuwaiti lawmaker Walid al-Tabtabai, who was on board one of the ships with other activists from Muslim countries.

“They were brutal and arrogant, but our message reached every corner of the world that the blockade on Gaza is unfair and should be lifted immediately,” he added.

The lawmaker claimed there “was not a single weapon with the passengers aboard all the ships.”

Video released by the Israeli military showed commandos attacked by angry activists with metal rods and firebombs during the raid. One soldier was thrown off one deck onto another below, and Israeli authorities said its troops were attacked by knives, clubs and live fire from the two pistols wrested from soldiers.

Israeli media reported Wednesday that the foreign ministry ordered the families of its diplomats in Turkey to leave that country because of the uproar there over the raid. The diplomatic mission itself would remain in Turkey, said Israel Radio and other stations and newspapers. The ministry would neither confirm nor deny the reports.

At least four Turkish activists were among the nine killed by Israeli naval commandos. Turkey, which backed the Gaza aid mission, has been most vocal in condemning the raid, describing it as a “massacre.”

The fallout also expanded far from the region’s borders. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Nicaragua has announced it is suspending — though not severing — diplomatic ties with Israel over the raid.

While many Israelis were critical of the way the raid was executed, the overwhelming reaction backed the soldiers’ response and supported the Gaza blockade. Israelis have little empathy for the plight of Palestinians in Gaza because militants used the territory to send thousands of rockets and mortars crashing into Israel for years.

The flotilla was meant to draw attention to the Israeli and Egyptian blockade of Gaza, imposed three years ago after Hamas militants violently seized power. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent Hamas, which has fired thousands of rockets into the Jewish state, from building up its arsenal. The closure has failed to hurt Hamas but has damaged Gaza’s already weak economy.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton supported a U.N. Security Council statement that condemned the “acts” that cost the lives of the pro-Palestinian activists off the Gaza coast. But U.S. officials did not say whether they blamed Israel or the activists for the bloodshed.

Israel has promised to halt a new attempt by pro-Palestinian groups to sail two more ships to Gaza’s shores within the next few days. One of the ships was in need of repair, and it was not clear whether the other, the Rachel Corrie, would proceed on its own, said activist Hedy Epstein.

The boat is named for a young American activist who was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in 2003 while protesting Israeli house demolitions in Gaza.

Associated Press Writer Dale Gavlak at Allenby Bridge, Jordan, contributed to this report.