Israel says it will expel all of nearly 700 aid flotilla activists by end of day

Israel to expel all activists by day’s end

JERUSALEM — Israel on Wednesday was deporting the last of the nearly 700 foreign activists detained in a deadly raid on an aid flotilla bound for Palestinians in the blockaded, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Israel’s attorney general, Yehuda Weinstein, ordered everyone be deported after deciding not to prosecute any of the activists taken into custody during Monday’s raid. Officials had earlier said they were considering prosecuting about 50 people believed to be involved in violence, but Weinstein wrote in his order Wednesday that “keeping them here would do more damage to the country’s vital interests than good.”

Israel has come under harsh international condemnation after naval commandos stormed the flotilla in international waters, setting off the deadly clashes. Israel says its soldiers opened fire only after being attacked by angry activists, who said they were trying to breach the blockade of Gaza to bring in aid.

Officials at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv say all of the foreign activists have been taken to the airport to be deported. Turkish and Greek protesters were to fly home on special planes sent by their respective governments, while other foreigners were to travel home on commercial flights.

The raid that ended with Israeli soldiers killing nine activists has strained diplomatic ties, sending Israeli relations with Turkey, in particular, to a new low. At least four of the nine killed were Turkish and the ship Israel attacked was Turkish. Israel ordered families of its diplomats out of that country a day after Turkey branded the raid a “massacre.”

The assault on the flotilla continued to stir anger in Ankara, where Turkish lawmakers on Wednesday called on the government to review its political, military and economic ties with Israel. In a declaration approved by a show of hands, the lawmakers also said Israel must formally apologize for the raid Monday on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, pay compensation to the victims and bring those responsible to justice.

“This attack was an open violation of United Nations rules and international law,” Deputy Parliament Speaker Guldal Mumcu said, reading out the declaration.

Israeli officials said the decision not to prosecute any of the activists, despite suspicions that they were sent to attack Israeli forces on the ship, was an attempt to limit damage to Israel’s relations with Turkey, an unofficial sponsor of the flotilla. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing sensitive diplomatic issues.

More than 120 activists from a dozen Muslim nations without diplomatic relations with Israel were deported to Jordan before sunrise, corrections department spokesman Yaron Zamir said.

Also Wednesday, Egypt eased its blockade of Gaza after the assault and at the newly opened crossing in the border town of Rafah, about 300 Palestinians entered through Gaza’s main gateway to the outside world. A smaller number entered Gaza from Egypt and humanitarian aid also came in including blankets, tents and 13 power generators donated by Russia and Oman.

Gaza has been under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade since Hamas militants seized power in a violent takeover of the seaside strip in 2007. Egypt’s opening of the border was believed to be temporary, although the government did not say how long it would last.

Associated Press Writers Dale Gavlak at Allenby Bridge, Jordan, and Karin Laub in Jerusalem, Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.