Gaza conflict: 600 held as Israel tries to gag witnesses

Terrified aid workers claimed last night their ship was awash with blood as Israeli commandos stormed their convoy and slaughtered nine civilians.


Traumatised Nilufer Cetin was trapped with 13-month-old son Turker on Mavi Marmara - one of six vessels in the flotilla - as the masked special forces struck.

She described how Israeli boats "harassed" the convoy for hours, despite being in international waters , before swooping at 4am on Monday.

Mrs Cetin, whose ship's engineer husband was held by Israeli officials, tried to escape the violence by hiding with her son in the bathroom of one of the cabins.

She said: "They threw smoke bombs followed by gas canisters. Suddenly the commandos started to descend on us from helicopters.

"The ship turned into a lake of blood.

It was awful. The inside of the boat was completely drenched in blood."

Her graphic account was one of several that emerged despite frantic efforts by Israeli officials to gag witnesses from revealing the truth about the botched raids that have sparked international outrage.

Un chiefs formally condemned the attacks yesterday and ordered an urgent investigation.