Protesters on board the Gaza flotilla attempting to run the Israeli blockade of Hamas in Gaza used guns, knives, clubs and metal pipes to attack IDF naval forces who boarded the vessels of the flotilla around 2:00 EST this morning.
"It was a well-planned lynch," one IDF officer said, despite claims from the promoters of the Gaza flotilla that they were unarmed civilians on a humanitarian mission.
The confrontation took place after the flotilla ignored a series of warnings that began around 11:00 p.m., requesting them to redirect to the Ashdod port where they could unload their cargo for land transport to Gaza .
When naval forces boarded the ships of the Gaza flotilla, they were met with gunfire, knives, metal pipes and clubs. Two passengers from the flotilla fired weapons they had grabbed from soldiers.
"As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire," the IDF Spokesperson's Office said in a press release.
IAF helicopters evacuated some of the injured from the Gaza flotilla to Israeli hospitals.