UN blames Israel, siege for bloodshed

The UN secretary general has blamed Israel for imposing three years of blockade on the Gaza Strip saying it caused the recent bloodshed aboard aid ships.

“Had Israelis heeded to my call and to the call of the international community by lifting the blockade of Gaza, this tragic incident would not have happened,” Ban Ki-moon said in a Tuesday interview with AFP.

The Israeli navy’s attack against the Freedom Flotilla aid convoy on Monday left at least 20 activists dead and 50 others injured, Palestinian sources say.

The raid occurred as the humanitarian convoy was still in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, 150km (90 miles) off the Gaza coast.

Speaking on the sidelines of a review conference of the International Criminal Court in Uganda, the UN chief also once again called on Israeli authorities to lift the blockade.

Ban said he had reiterated his request Tuesday in a phone conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

In an emergency session earlier, the UN Security Council demanded a full and impartial investigation but stopped short of requesting an independent probe into the incident.

“This is an issue which I take… very seriously, and upon my return to New York I will immediately engage in discussing what kind of measures should be taken with regard to having a full investigation into this matter,” Ban said.