UN demands Israel lift siege of Gaza

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has demanded that Israel lift the blockade of the Gaza Strip immediately in the wake of the deadly attack on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

After his return from visits to Brazil, Malawi, and Uganda, on Wednesday Ban told reporters that the underlying problem behind Monday’s events was the long-running, crippling Israeli siege of Gaza, which he described as “counter-productive, unsustainable and wrong.”

The Israeli military attacked the Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea early on May 31, killing at least 19 people on board the six ships, mostly Turkish nationals, and injuring about 50 others.

Israel also arrested nearly 700 activists from 42 countries on board the Freedom Flotilla, which was attempting to break the siege of Gaza in order to deliver humanitarian assistance to the long-suffering people of the territory.

The attack caused a wave of protests across the world, prompting several countries to summon Israeli ambassadors.