Video from the Israeli raid on Gaza flotilla

Al Jazeera reporter Jamal Elshayyal was on board the aid ship 'Mavi Marmara,' which was trying to break an aid blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza when it was stormed by Israeli soldiers.

From Al Jazeera's blurb on the video:

Commandos lowered themselves from helicopters and onto the Mavi Marmara - the lead ship in a flotilla of six vessels which are carrying humanitarian aid for the Palestinian territory.

Elshayyal on board the Mavi Marmara sent this report before communications were cut.



The Israeli Defense Force has released more video from the flotilla allegedly showing IDF naval personnel being attacked after they had boarded the flotilla.



From the written IDF account posted with the video:

Early this morning, IDF Naval Forces boarded six ships attempting to break the maritime closure of the Gaza Strip. This happened after numerous warnings from Israel and the Israeli Navy that were issued prior to the action. The Israel Navy requested the ships to redirect toward Ashdod where they would be able to unload their aid supplies which would then be transferred over land after undergoing security inspections.

During the boarding of the ships, the demonstrators onboard attacked the IDF Naval personnel with live fire and light weaponry including knives and clubs. Additionally one of the weapons used was grabbed from an IDF soldier. The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose.

As a result of this life-threatening and violent activity, naval forces employed riot dispersal means, including live fire.

According to initial reports, these events resulted in over ten deaths among the demonstrators and numerous injured, in addition, more than four naval personnel were injured, some from gunfire and some from various other weapons. Two of the soldiers are moderately wounded and the remainder sustained light injuries. All of the injured, Israelis and foreigners are currently being evacuated by helicopter to hospitals in Israel.

Here's raw footage from aboard the ship. The first shows Israel soldiers boarding the ship and also repelling onto the vessel via a helicopter. The second clip was apparently filmed by Press TV.